Artist: Josh Keyes

Entangle II, 30"x40", acrylic on panel, 2009 

Entangle I, 30"x40", acrylic on panel, 2009 

Island, 30"x40", acrylic on panel, 2009 

Lifted, 2009, 40"x30", acrylic on panel

Roar I, 18"x24", acrylic on panel, 2009

Bio:

Josh Keyes was born in Tacoma, Washington. He received a BFA in 1992 from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA in 1998 from Yale. Eighteenth-century aesthetics and philosophies, particularly those of the Neoclassical and Romantic movements, shape his work. Keyes is drawn to the clinical and often cold vocabulary of scientific textbook illustrations, which express the empirical "truth" of the world and natural phenomena. He infuses into a rational stage set many references to contemporary events along with images and themes from his personal mythology and experience. These elements come together in an unsettling vision, one that speaks to the hope, fear, and anxiety of our time. Keyes currently lives and works in Portland Oregon with his wife, graphic designer Lisa Ericson.

http://www.joshkeyes.net/biography.htm

Relation to my work:

This work is quite similar to Ryan McClennan’s, which I posted before. This work shows more of an interaction between humans, animals, and habitat. The paintings are quite simple but present a lot. I love the uneasiness, and sometimes violence, paired with the quiet beauty. The interaction that he portrays is both disturbing and beautiful. They are playful and dangerous.  The compositions and small details keep my eyes moving around and around the images. Lastly, I like his repetition of the characters and how each they often represent people in his life.

Inspirational Quotes:

“I have always enjoyed the use of personification in the work of artists. It is a way of stepping outside human perception, in doing so it calls attention to the human condition without depicting a human figure.”

“I am developing a cast of characters in my work to inhabit the fragmented landscape. The animals have a personal meaning for me. They often stand for people or events in my life.”

“The diagrammatic quality of my work refers to the human gaze, similar to the idea of the male gaze, it sees and takes in only what it wants to see or desires to see. The model I am using is the scientific gaze or perception. Things seen in quantity separate from the whole. A laboratory where animals, ecosystems, humans, are reduced to objects.”

“Though I am tempted at times to fill the entire space, I find that the minimal stage set helps to focus the attention on the narrative. I also use the minimal and segmented landscapes to bring clarity to a very complex word of events. It is a way of quieting down information.”

“Night Painter, like old Philip Guston, quiet, moon, dream time. I have tried working at the crack of dawn but the sounds of the world are distracting. I feel alert and intense when the sun goes down.”

Artist Site:

http://www.joshkeyes.net/

Gallery Representation:

http://www.davidbsmithgallery.com/

http://www.jonathanlevinegallery.com/

Interviews:

http://www.fecalface.com/SF/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=385&Itemid=92

http://www.thebrilliance.com/thebrilliance/interviews/joshkeyes/interview.asp

http://theeastsider.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/josh-keyes-interview/