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Shawn Kuruneru

b. 1984, Toronto, Canada.

Using formal painting methods rooted in art history and autobiography, Kuruneru’s work is bold and playful, intimate and poetic.

Kuruneru paints his own visual language composed of colourful blocky geometric forms that oscillate between optical illusion and the material reality of acrylic absorbed into the weave of raw canvas.

Shawn Kuruneru, Willow, 2024, Acrylic on raw canvas, 24 x 20 in

Shawn Kuruneru
Untitled (Peach, Yellow), 2025
Acrylic on raw canvas
48 x 36 in

The relationship between paintings and music is present in Kuruneru’s body of work. Rhythm and movement are developed through repetition of gestures personal to the artists’ hand.

Shawn Kuruneru
Untitled (black), 2025
Acrylic on raw canvas
60 x 48 in

Shawn Kuruneru
Untitled (white), 2025
Acrylic on raw canvas
25 x 20 in

Loud and gentle shapes float across the canvas, creating a multi perspective experience inspired by 10th century Chinese landscape paintings—an anchor to his own Chinese heritage.

Shawn Kuruneru,
Untitled (blues), 2025
Acrylic on raw canvas,
72 x 48 in

Shawn Kuruneru
Watchtower, 2022
Acrylic on raw canvas
72 x 48 in

Kuruneru’s all-over compositions find their historical lineage in European abstractionists like Simon Hantai and Carla Accardi, as well as to Abstract Expressionist artists such as Lee Krasner.

Shawn Kuruneru,
Untitled (Dark blue, light blue, green, yellow), 2025
Acrylic on raw canvas
48 x 36 in

Shawn Kuruneru

(b. 1984, Canada) lives and works in Montreal, Canada. Kuruneru’s work is in the collections of the Portland Museum of Art (Portland, Oregon), The National Gallery of Canada Library Collection (Toronto, Canada), CELINE (Paris, France). Solo exhibitions include Sunny NY (New York, NY), Bozidar Brazda/GALLERY (Woodstock, New York), Cooper Cole (Toronto, Canada), and KOKI ARTS (Tokyo, Japan). Group exhibitions include Skarstedt Gallery curated by David Salle (New York, NY), Mother Gallery (Beacon, New York), Night Gallery (Los Angeles, California), Ribordy Thetaz (Geneva, Switzerland), Rachel Uffner (New York, NY). Kuruneru collaborated with CELINE in 2019 on their Capsule Collection. His work has been featured in Artforum, The New York Times, Mousse Magazine, The Guardian and NY Arts Magazine, among others.
Shawn Kuruneru CV