ABOUT THE ARTIST Kesler Pierre

Haitian born, Kesler Pierre, is a professional multi-media artist who has been living and working in New York City since 1983. After immigrating to the United States, Mr. Pierre compiled an extensive body of artwork in and around the New York metropolitan area. His art has been exhibited internationally.

As a photographer and graphic artist, Kesler digitally restored historic documents, and created innumerable digital images of Haitian life and culture. His photographs have been published in books and articles, as well as exhibited at the Haitian Embassy in Washington, DC.

Kesler’s work, during his 38 years in the field of stained glass art and conservation, can be seen in the landmarks and monuments of various states in the US, and he has restored the masterworks of such stained glass icons as Louis Comfort Tiffany and John LaFarge.

In addition to his credits in glass, photography, and graphic design, Kesler has had a lifelong involvement with the world of Vodou.

In 1997, he began to study the Haitian drum with master drummer, Frisner Augustin of La Troupe Makandal, and he went on to play third drum and percussion with the group.

Kesler has created clothing for the musicians, and backdrops for La Troupe Makandal’s stage sets. Most notably; his sacred bottles have adorned Vodou altars during their performances.

Kesler uses traditional vèvè symbols to create unique glass bottles, which are not only used for ceremonial purposes but as exhibition items in various museums.

His Vodou bottles have been used in countless authentic ritual ceremonies, and were on display at New York’s American Museum of Natural History during their Mythic Creatures Festival, as well as at Brooklyn’s Historic Green-Wood Cemetery.  More recently they were on display at the Second Business Forum of Quebec and Haiti in Montreal.

In 2012 The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), the nation’s largest provider of funding, information and services to individual artists, awarded Kesler an artist fellowship in the category of Folk/Traditional Arts in recognition of the important role his work has in the preservation of Haitian traditions and culture in the U.S. Kesler also contributed to a book on Recovering Haiti’s Cultural Heritage for The Smithsonian Institution.

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