Portals with Ken Tisa: Organized by Mindy Shapero

January 18 - February 8, 2025

Portals with Ken Tisa
Curated by Mindy Shapero
January 18 – February 8, 2025

Ken Tisa began many of his lessons with an unusual prompt: "What did you dream?" His students recall the ritual of waking up, dream journals in hand, tasked with translating the ephemeral imagery of their subconscious into something tangible. It wasn’t about precision or clarity—a perfect recounting of the dream—but about honoring that transitional state of consciousness where intuition takes precedence over logic. Through this act, Tisa taught his students a crucial lesson: art is not just about the finished work; it’s about embracing the act of creation as a way to reach for something intangible, something just beyond the grasp of waking rationality.

Portals with Ken Tisa, curated by Mindy Shapero—a former student of Tisa’s and herself a sculptor and painter—is a celebration of this ethos and the remarkable legacy Tisa has built as both an artist and an educator. Born in 1945 in Philadelphia, Tisa emerged from New York City’s vibrant downtown art scene in the 1970s, earning acclaim for his intricate paintings and beaded textile wall works. His works bridge the ancient and the contemporary, drawing on art history and technical mastery while embracing experimentation. For six decades, he has not only created a body of work that invites viewers into otherworldly realms but has also shaped a generation of artists and writers who have passed through his classrooms.

Tisa’s shift toward works that evoke portals as gateways to other worlds or altered states appears, too, in the art of his former students. Their work ranges from shimmering paintings inviting viewers into dreamlike dimensions, to sculptural explorations of biomorphic forms, glittering surfaces, and glowing circles that pulse with a meditative rhythm. Across mediums—from painting to sculpture, textiles to video—the works in this exhibition are united by a shared pursuit: to reach that liminal space where making becomes a bridge between the conscious and the unconscious.

At the heart of Tisa’s teaching is a deep respect for materiality and individuality. Each contributing artist’s work reflects a unique practice, yet they are all connected by a joy in creation that Tisa instilled in them. He teaches that the studio as a place of self-discovery, of meditation.

Portals with Ken Tisa invites us to see the work of these artists not just as objects, but as thresholds—gateways into a legacy defined by imagination, community, and the profound pleasure of creating.

Participating artists include: Ken Tisa, Frank Benson, Jessica Dickinson, Brock Enright, Naomi Fisher, Matt Johnson, Emily Kiacz, Karsten Krejcarek, Zachary Leener, Jerry Lim, Rachel Ostrow, Courtney Puckett, Adam Putman, Matthew Ronay, Colette Robbins, Sunny A. Smith, Jen Stark, Mindy Shapero, and Didier William.

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RECENT PRESS

Mutual Art: From Dreams to Canvas: Honoring Ken Tisa’s Portals

Frank Benson

Untitled (Aztec), 2011
Polyurethane resin, wood, acrylic paint
11 x 7 1/2 x 4 in
27.9 x 19.1 x 10.2 cm
(FB24.001)

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Jessica Dickinson

Beneath-Here, 2018-2022
Pastel and dust on paper with holes and cuts
50 x 42 1/4 in
127 x 107.3 cm
(JD24.001)

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Brock Enright

MINO
Glass, wood, mixed media
33 x 26 in
83.8 x 66 cm
(BE24.001)

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Brock Enright

LOVE LETTER
Brass tacks, foam, glue
16 x 16 in
40.6 x 40.6 cm
(BE24.002)

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Naomi Fisher

Imprint, 2011
watercolor, charcoal, acrylic
24 x 18 in
61 x 45.7 cm
(NF24.001)

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Matt Johnson

A Rock on Top of The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt, 2019
Polychromed wood
20 x 12 1/4 x 8 1/2 in
50.8 x 31.1 x 21.6 cm
(MJ24.001)

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Zachary Leener

Untitled, 2022-2023
glazed terra cotta
6 3/4 x 9 1/2 in
17.1 x 24.1 cm
(ZL24.001)

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Karsten Krejcarek

22nd Street off 40th Avenue. Under the Tree Where Very Bad Things Happen, 2024
Aqua-Resin and fiberglass; MDF UL base
32 x 24 x 24 in
81.3 x 61 x 61 cm
(KK24.001)

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Emily Kiacz

Tired of the Wild, 2024
acrylic on linen, over panel
24 x 24 in
61 x 61 cm
(EK24.001)

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Jerry Lim

Home Study, 2024
Black ink on paper
24 x 18 in
61 x 45.7 cm
(JL24.002)

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Jerry Lim

D-ATH, 2024
Conte crayon, black ink and pencil
24 x 18 in
61 x 45.7 cm
(JL24.001)

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Rachel Ostrow

How It Started, 2024
oil on panel
36 x 36 in
91.4 x 91.4 cm
(RO24.001)

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Mindy Shapero

Portal Scar, cosmic body parts, 2024
Acrylic, gold and silver leaf on linen
72 x 60 in
182.9 x 152.4 cm
(MS24.010)

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Courtney Puckett

The Imitator, 2023
Found objects and repurposed textiles
80 x 29 x 29 in
203.2 x 73.7 x 73.7 cm
(CPU24.001)

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Adam Putnam

[Untitled] - Hole 4, 2022
mixed media on paper
44 x 30 in
111.8 x 76.2 cm
(APU24.001)

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Colette Robbins

The Artist, 2020
Copper PLA (polylactic acid)
16 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 6 1/2 in
41.9 x 26.7 x 16.5 cm
(CRO24.001)

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Matthew Ronay

Hephaestus, 2022
Basswood, dye, plastic steel wool, shellac-based primer, primer
51 1/2 x 20 1/2 x 12 1/2 in
130.8 x 52.1 x 31.8 cm
(MR24.001)

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Sunny Smith

Ghost Double, 2018-2023
archival pigment on linen, cotton
69 x 26 x 7 in
175.3 x 66 x 17.8 cm
(SS24.001)

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Jen Stark

Psychedelic Patchwork, 2024
Acrylic on wood
22 x 30 x 1 in
55.9 x 76.2 x 2.5 cm
(JS24.001)

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Lauren Kelley

Exodus / Black Harp, 2023
ABS 3D print, acrylic dome, fake snow, glue, water.
5 x 5 x 4 in
12.7 x 12.7 x 10.2 cm
(LKE24.002)

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Lauren Kelley

Exodus / Oba (Black), 2023
ABS 3D print, acrylic dome, fake snow, glue, water.
5 x 5 x 4 in
12.7 x 12.7 x 10.2 cm
(LKE24.001)

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Ken Tisa

Memento Mori , 2020-2023
Glass, wood, and plastic beads, vintage buttons, mother of pearl buttons on textile mounted canvas
54 x 51 1/2 in
137.2 x 130.8 cm
(KTI24.015)

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Ken Tisa

Soul's Searching , 2024
Watercolor on handmade paper
45 x 35 in
114.3 x 88.9 cm
(KTI24.014)

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Ken Tisa

Portal 2, 2024
Watercolor on handmade paper
22 x 30 in
55.9 x 76.2 cm
(KTI24.001)

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Ken Tisa

Portal 5, 2024
Watercolor on handmade paper
22 x 30 in
55.9 x 76.2 cm
(KTI24.002)

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Ken Tisa

Portal 1, 2024
Watercolor on handmade paper
22 x 30 in
55.9 x 76.2 cm
(KTI24.003)

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Ken Tisa

Portal 6, 2024
Watercolor on handmade paper
22 x 30 in
55.9 x 76.2 cm
(KTI24.005)

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Ken Tisa

Portal 3, 2024
Watercolor on handmade paper
22 x 30 in
55.9 x 76.2 cm
(KTI24.006)

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Ken Tisa

Portal 9, 2024
Watercolor on handmade paper
22 x 30 in
55.9 x 76.2 cm
(KTI24.007)

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Ken Tisa

Portal 10, 2024
Watercolor on handmade paper
22 x 30 in
55.9 x 76.2 cm
(KTI24.009)

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Ken Tisa

Portal 12, 2024
Watercolor on handmade paper
22 x 30 in
55.9 x 76.2 cm
(KTI24.010)

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Ken Tisa

Portal 14, 2024
Watercolor on handmade paper
22 x 30 in
55.9 x 76.2 cm
(KTI24.013)

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Ken Tisa

Portal 13, 2024
Watercolor on handmade paper
22 x 30 in
55.9 x 76.2 cm
(KTI24.012)

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Ken Tisa

Looking at the Sun , 1987
Glass beads, sequins, silk thread, cotton canvas
43 x 40 in
109.2 x 101.6 cm
(KTI24.016)

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