(b Los Angeles, CA, 1960).
American sculptor. Kersels graduated with a BA from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1984, and later returned to the same institution to take an MA (1993–5). From 1984 to 1993 he was a member of a neo-Dada performance group, SHRIMPS, and this clearly influenced his sculpture, both in terms of its echos of performance and its tone of light-hearted absurdity and futility. His photographic series Tossing a Friend (Melinda 1, 2 and 3) (1996; see 1998 exh. cat.) is indicative of his interest in the consequences of accidental movement: a woman is shown, in various positions, being thrown in the air by the artist. Objects of the Dealer (1995; see Pagel, 1995) suggests a more critical edge to his anarchic humour: all the mechanical and electrical components on an art dealer’s desk were wired up to different microcassettes and whenever they were used music would come from some of the 26 speakers. His well-known ...
