Wear Wounds Proud Painting by Kris Gebhardt

Painting: Acrylic, oil, Gesso, Charcoal, Graphite on Canvas.

Kris and Angela Gebhardt are a powerhouse couple, there’s no question. But the two individuals who make up Gebhardt Gallery are also incredible artists in their own right. Comprising large-format contemporary works, Kris and Angela’s collective body of work “is not for everyone,” Kris admitted in a recent profile . “Most pieces feature strength and beauty, but it’s not sugar-coated; it’s knocked around a bit just like life. We paint a lot of reality on our canvases. Even in its roughest form, you can still see the integration of strength and beauty.” A published author, expert fitness coach, and mixed-media artist, Kris Gebhardt began his artistic journey after suffering a sports injury and touring with John Mellencamp as the rock star’s personal trainer in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Since that time, his gritty pieces of artwork—whether erotically charged black-and-white photographs of his wife Angela or haunting mixed-media depictions of the human body, sometimes accompanied by minimal but poignant text—have been sold and published around the world. His art pieces are candid depictions of the human condition, revealing pain, heartache, and the search for strength. Angela Gebhardt began painting in her youth but, in time, traded in her paintbrush for business ownership. However, when her passion for art became too great to neglect, Angela sold her successful Indianapolis hair design business and product line and heeded the call. Her next career move was an unanticipated one—becoming Kris Gebhardt’s muse and seeing her physical form, interpreted by her husband’s deft photographic touch, capture the spotlight in international exhibitions. Eventually Angela began painting again, crafting large-scale abstract contemporary pieces as well as figure paintings with bold and surreal messages woven into the composition. Her richly varied life experiences and reverence for the ocean inform much of her work. Kris and Angela Gebhardt’s works, though different in style, are complementary and have received acclaim when shown together at art shows in New York, California and Miami.