Interview by Jimon

1.Where do you currently reside and work?  I live in Palm Springs, California and my studio is three miles from my home. It is located in an industrial complex in Cathedral City, California.

2. How would you describe Kim Manfredi?  I am a person who is committed to the imagination. I live with an inquiring mind. I approach art and life with curiosity and creativity.

3. Did you attend an art school or is it inherent?  I received an undergraduate degree from the Maryland Institute college of Art in Baltimore. 20 years later I returned to the same school to study with Grace Hartigan and Joyce Kozloff. I received my MFA from the Hoffberger School of Painting in 2009.

4. How long have you been making art and what lead you to start?  I have been painting for 35 years. I began practicing art because I had to. I realized I was a creative being and nothing else was satisfying. I made art to be happy.

5. How did you acquire your style?  I often think about where I fit into the history of contemporary painting. I love Agnes Martin but I also love Joan Mitchell. I would sell my soul for an Amy Sillman painting and absolute swoon every time I see a Christina Quarles exhibition. If it’s good painting, I’m on board. At Frieze this year I loved the Richard Aldrich paintings.  I think my work is the result of decades of investigative looking as well as a commitment to loving painting as a form.

6. Have you ever come across a piece of art that you could not or did not want to stop looking at?  Yes, when I was young I saw my first Morris Louis in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. I stayed in the lobby looking at it until it was time to leave. I didn’t see much else that day.

7. Tell us something about the art world that you want to see changed?  I think the art world is always changing. As long as there is an art world and a place for me within it, I’ll be happy.

8. Why make art?  I think making art is the best way to spend a life. For me, art making allows me to dwell in the realm of the invisible and the imaginary. I think about things like color, composition, materials and discovery all day long. I problem solve and take long meandering journeys. I’m awkward and I spend much of my time alone. I think making art is an honest and great way to live.

9. The future is _________?  Unknown

10. What’s a day typically look like for you, from start to finish?  I wake at 4:45AM to ride my bike. Generally I do 30 – 60 miles  which takes 2 – 4 hours. During this time I do research for the days painting. I am an observer on the bike. I observe the landscape, my mind, and my body. Then I grab a coffee and  head to the studio where I work till 5PM. Much of my time is spent painting but I also have administrative work like marketing, invoicing and shipping. I have dinner most nights with my husband and go to bed to read fairly early, 4:45 comes around quick.

11. What is the origin of your paintings?  My bicycle rides inspire the artwork. They contain everything: pleasure, pain, landscape, weather, terrain, color, composition, material, line, and space. I call my process Making not Knowing but all of the paintings elements are inside me. During the process of painting I mine my experience for content and direction.

12. What advice would you give putative collectors?  Supporting an artist is the greatest compliment you could every give them. Becoming the caretaker of an artwork is a wonderful job that keeps giving rewards.

13. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received in regards to your art?  Make a mark every day and be yourself.

14. How do you define success?  My aim is to be a part of the contemporary art conversation. I want my paintings to be relevant to conversations about the land and art, lived experience and art, as well as materiality and art.

15. Do you have a place/person/thing that you visit for inspiration?  The inner world, Agnes Martin, Amy Sillman, and Howard Hodgkins.

16. If you could have dinner with 3 artists living/dead who would be at your table?  Sam Gilliam, Robert Longo and Amy Sillman for a variety of reasons.

17. Name three things you can’t live without in your studio?  Paint, brushes, and a surface to paint on.

18.If you were asking the questions what question would you ask and please follow with an answer.

Do you like to paint large or small?

I love painting large but use small canvas works as studies.

19.How would someone find you on Social Media?  @kimmanfredi

20.Please name the first thing that comes to your mind while reading the following:
Art= life
Food= love
Sports= breath
Politics= strategy
Poor= been there
God= insufficient word for everything
Rich= been there
Luxury= a bath
Sex= sensation
Picasso= Painter
Religion= God ruined