Rendered with a precise freehand technique, and eschewing the use of tape, Isensee’s work manages to avoid the anonymous, impersonal appearance often associated with hardedge painting. His unexpected juxtapositions of vibrant color are visually intense. "This is earnest work without a whiff of cynicism... Much of its pleasure comes from the vital flush of optimism."[1] "One senses an artist almost at play, delighting in color and line cleverly marshaled, while at the same time engaging modernist conventions."[2]
Born in Asheville, North Carolina in 1956, Isensee studied architecture at the University of Oklahoma and subsequently majored in painting and graphic design. Isensee was included in the 2007 American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Invitational Exhibition of Visual Arts and received a Purchase Award. He received the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant in 1999 and has exhibited extensively in the United States. His work is included in the collections of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, the Jack S. Blanton Museum, Austin, TX, the Nerman Museum of Art, Overland Park, KS and the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY, among others. Isensee lives and works in New York City.
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[1] Huntington, Richard. The Buffalo News. November 24, 2006.
[2] Taylor, Alex. Artnews. April 2008.
