Cooper Union

Alex Kwartler

Adjunct Instructor

Alex Kwartler lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. In 2014 he presented a solo show entitled A Superficial Lyric at Nathalie Karg Gallery in New York. His work has been included in group exhibitions at White Columns, Bortolami Gallery, Mitchell-Innes & Nash, Martos Gallery, Casey Kaplan, Petzel Gallery, Wallspace and MoMA P.S.1. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Frieze, Artforum, Art in America and is featured in Painting Abstraction published by Phaidon Press. He received his MFA from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ and his BFA from The Cooper Union, New York, NY.

Installation view: Alex Kwartler at Magenta Plains

Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.
“My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”
From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.
Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.