1938 Born, Lithuania (as an American citizen)
1960 BFA, The School of The Art Institute of Chicago
Ryerson Foreign Travel Fellowship
1963 MFA, Syracuse University, New York
Awards
1964 Second Annual Chicago Arts Festival Invitational Exhibition, First Prize
1968 CAPS Grant (Creative Artists Public Service, NYS Council on the Arts)
1979 NEA Grant (National Endowment for the Arts)
1996 The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts Grant
Solo Exhibitions
1962 Gres Gallery, Chicago
Ciurlionis Gallery, Chicago
1965 Kazimir Gallery, Chicago
1966 Kazimir Gallery, Chicago
1968 Stable Gallery, New York
1971 Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
1973 Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
1975 Paula Cooper Gallery, (works on paper), New York
Paula Cooper Gallery, (paintings), New York
1977 Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
1978 Galerie Darthea Speyer, Paris, France
Kes Zapkus: Paintings 1968-1978, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH
1979 Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
1981 Kes Zapkus: Drawing into Painting, Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA
John Weber Gallery, New York
1982 Kes Zapkus: Kes Zapkus: Notation/Progression, Hecksher Museum, Huntington, NY
John Weber Gallery, New York
1984 Children of War John Weber Gallery, New York
1988 John Weber Gallery, New York
1988 Children of War, Museum of Art of Lithuania, exhibited in Vilnius, Klaipeda,
and Kaunas, L.T.S.R. and Gallery of the L.T.S.R. Mission, Moscow, U.S.S.R
John Weber Gallery, New York
1995 Andre Zarre Gallery, New York
2001 Paintings & Drawings 1998-2000, Art Sites, Greenport, NY
2005 Selected Paintings 1993 – 2005, Icehouse Gallery, Greenport, NY
2007 Mindset-Timeset Variations (paintings and drawings), Art Sites, Riverhead, NY
2008 Big Paintings 1975 – 2007, OK Harris Works of Art, New York
2011 Recent Paintings, OK Harris Works of Art, New York
2013 Recent Paintings, OK Harris Works of Art, New York
2014 Kestutis Zapkus: Painting Retrospective (1968-2014), The National Gallery of Art,
Vilnius, Lithuania
2015 Inaugural Exhibit: Two Large Paintings, SLA307 Art Space, New York
Kes Zapkus: Paintings and Drawings, William Holman Gallery, New York
2017 Kes Zapkus: Drawings and Works on Paper, 1957 - 2017, SLA307 Art Space, New York
2018 Kes Zapkus: New Paintings, Silas Von Morisse Gallery, Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY
2023 Kestutis Zapkus: Paintings and Drawings, 2010 - 2022, Meno Parkas Galerija,
Kaunas, Lithuania
Group Exhibitions
1958 Chicago and Vicinity, The Art Institute of Chicago / Hyde Park Art Center, Hyde Park, IL
1964 Signal: Six Artistes Americains de Paris et d'Amsterdam, Centre Culturel Americain, Paris
1965 Invitational Exhibition, Society of Contemporary Art, The Art Institute of Chicago
Invitational Exhibition, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, IL
1968 Some Younger American Painters and Sculptors (touring exhibit),
The Museum of Modem Art, New York
1969 Painting Annual, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Eight Painters, Wheaton College, Norton, MA
1970 Painting and Sculpture Today, The Indianapolis Museum of Art, IN
Critics' Choice (touring exhibit), New York Council on the Arts
Drawing Exhibition, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
1971 Three Paintings: Zapkus, Diao, Ruda, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
Work on Paper, 31st Annual Exhibition of the Society of Contemporary Art,
The Art Institute of Chicago
Paula Cooper Gallery Exhibition, Windham College, Putney, VT
Art for Your Collection, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
Specially Selected Works, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
1972 New York '72, Paula Cooper Gallery Exhibition, Greenwich Public Library, Greenwich, CT
New American Abstract Painting, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY
New American Abstract Painting, Madison Art Center, Madison, WI
Gallerie Simone Stern, New Orleans, LA
1973 Inaugural Group Exhibition: New Space - Wooster Street, Paula Cooper Gallery,
New York
33rd Biennial Exhibition, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
New American Abstract Painting, Northern Illinois University Art Gallery, Dekalb, IL
Options 73/30: Recent Works of Art, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH
Art for Your Collection, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
1974 Spring Group Exhibition, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
Painting and Sculpture Today, 1974, Contemporary Art Center of The Indianapolis
Museum of Art and The Contemporary Arts Center and Taft Museum, Cincinnati, OH
Fall Group Exhibition, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
Vera List Selects, Greenwich Library, Greenwich, CT
Drawings and Other Work, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
1975 Painting Endures, The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
Spring Group Show, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
Drawings, Dootson-Calderhead Gallery, Seattle, WA
Drawings, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA
A Change of View, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT
Recent Work, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT
1976 Group Show, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
Approaching Painting: Part Three, Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY
Group Show, Paula Cooper Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Fortieth Annual Exhibition, Butler Art Institute, Youngstown, OH
Perspective '76, Freedman Art Gallery, Albright College, Reading, PA
1977 Drawings of the 70's, The Art Institute of Chicago
Critics' Choice, Lowe Art Gallery, Syracuse University, NY
and Munson Williams Proctor Institute, Utica, NY
Contemporary Collection, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT
Drawings and Prints - New York, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
Art for Your Collection, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
1978 Project Rebuild, Grey Art Gallery, New York University, New York
Group Show, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
1979 Art on Paper 1979, Weatherspoon Art Gallery, University of North Carolina, Greensboro
1980 Color in Colorado, Aspen Center for the Visual Arts, Aspen
Group Show, Okun - Thomas Gallery, St. Louis, MO
American Drawings in Black and White; 1970-1980, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
1981 Drawings, (Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts Benefit),
Leo Castelli Gallery, New York
Group Show, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
Peter Stuyvesant Collection, The Provencial Beijnhof, Hasselt, Belgian Limburg
1982 Ten Artists from New York, Sunny Savage Gallery, Boston
Drawing - New Directions, Summit Art Center, Summit, New Jersey
Zero Nuclear, Parsons School of Design, New York
1983 Terminal New York, Brooklyn Army Terminal, Brooklyn
Recent Acquisitions in Contemporary Art, Part One, The Museum of Art,
Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA
Christmas Invitational, AIR Gallery, New York
1984 Artists Call Against Intervention in Central America, Leo Castelli Gallery, New York
Gallery Group, John Weber Gallery, New York
Maximalism, Tweed Gallery, NJ
Art as Social Conscience, Bard College, Annandale-on Hudson, NY
Labor Intensive Abstractions, organized by P. S. 1 at The Clocktower, New York
1985 Gallery Group, John Weber Gallery, New York
1986 Comino a Cuba, Museo Universitario del Chopo, Mexico City, Mexico
Gallery Group, John Weber Gallery, New York
2nd Biennal de la Havana, Centro Wifredo Lam, Havana, Cuba
Law and Order, Leo Castelli Gallery, John Weber Gallery, Barbara Gladstone Gallery,
New York
1987 Group Exhibition, Exhibition Palace, Vilnius, Lithuania
Group Exhibition, Cooper Union School of Art, New York
1988 Sightings: Drawings with Color, (touring exhibit) Instituto de Estudios Norteamericanos,
Barcelona, Spain, Casa Revilla, Valladolid, Spain, Museo Barjola, Gijon, Spain, and
the Calouste Gulbekian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal
1989 Sightings: Drawings with Color, Pratt Manhattan Gallery, and Schafler Gallery,
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
Belief in Paint, Usdan Gallery, Bennington College, Bennington, VT
1990 The Grid: Organization and Idea, Ben Shahn Galleries, William Paterson College,
Wayne, NJ
1991 Drawings: Artists of the John Weber Gallery, Arco 91, Madrid, Spain
Art on Paper, Weatherspoon Art Gallery, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC
Pictures for an Exhibition, The Richard Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
The Bryan Montgomery Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary
1992 Stuyvesant Foundation Collection, Sevilla, Spain
Bryan Montgomery Collection, London, England, Museum of Fine Arts,
Budapest, Hungary
Bryan Montgomery Collection, London, England, Gallery of Art, Novosibirsk, Russia
The Open Work, John Good Gallery, New York
The Exuberant '80's, Andre Zarre Gallery, New York
1994 Civic Virtues, National Bank Plaza, Charlotte, NC
The Faculty Show 1994, Staller Center, SUNY at Stony Brook, NY
One Hundred Hearts , 45 Greene Street, New York
1995 20th Anniversary Exhibition 1974-1994, Andre Zarre Gallery, New York
In Small Dimensions, Andre Zarre Gallery, New York
1997 Abstraction Index, Condesco/Lawler Gallery, New York
The Faculty Show 1997, Staller Center, SUNY at Stony Brook
1998 Footfalls, (site-specific, large scale, bamboo sculpture), Greenport, NY
1999 The Faculty Show 1999 Staller Center, SUNY at Stony Brook, NY
2000 25th Anniversary Exhibition, Andre Zarre Gallery, New York
2001 Structures (touring exhibit), The Workspace, New York, Moravian College, Bethlehem, PA
and Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY
The Faculty Show 2001, Staller Center, SUNY at Stony Brook, NY
Difficult Subjects, Art Sites, Greenport, NY
2006 Group Show, OK Harris Works of Art, New York
2008 American Abstract Artists, The Painting Center, New York
40th Anniversary, Galerie Darthea Speyer, Paris
2010 American Abstract Artists International, 'L'astrazione vista da un cosmopolita,
Otrano, Italy
2011 Abstraction (Abstraction to the Power of Infinity), Crane Arts, Philadelphia, PA
American Abstract Artists 75th Anniversary, OK Harris Works of Art, New York
American Abstract Artists International/75th Anniversary, Galerie Ogbo and
Deutscher Künstlerbund, Berlin, Germany
2013 39 Great Jones, Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich, Switzerland
2014 Sensory Impact, American Abstract Artists, Morgan Stanley International, Purchase, NY
2015 Winter Drawing Show, William Holman Gallery, New York
Benefit for SLA Artspace, SLA307, New York
2016 The Onward of Art, American Abstract Artists 80th Anniversary,
1285 Avenue of the Americas Art Gallery, New York
Matter and Conjecture: Kes Zapkus, Stefan Gritsch, Art 3, Brooklyn, NY
Impossible Blossom: Paintings from the New School Art Collection, Kellen Gallery,
Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York
2017 From Realism to the Object: Lithuanian World Art in the Collection of the Lithuanian
Expatriate Art Foundation, Vytautas Kasiulis Art Museum, Vilnius, Lithuania
Lithuanian Art: Thinking Through Landscape, The National Museum of China, Beijing
2019 Contemporary Lithuanian Artists, Espace Commines, Paris, France
2022 Parallel Time (Paralelinis laikas), Vytautas Kasiulis Art Museum, Vilnius, Lithuania
Teaching positions held at:
University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Fine Arts
The Vilnius Academy of Art
The Cooper Union School of Art
Parsons School of Design
Princeton University
State University of New York at Stony Brook
