The artist that almost immediately caught my attention was Josh Keyes. Josh Keyes was born in 1969 in Tacoma, Washington and currently lives and works in Portland, Oregon with his wife and artist Lisa Ericson and their daughter. Keyes grew up surrounded by magnificent forests, but by being surrounded by them, he also witnessed their decimation by the logging industry. He grew up in the Pacific Northwest, and was fortunate to have two practicing artists for parents. His father taught and practiced sculpture and ceramics, and his mother taught him painting, and created assemblages with found objects. Josh earned a bachelor's degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a master's degree in Fine Arts from a very well known and recognized university, Yale University. His work has been published in New American Painters and exhibited in galleries in New York, Los Angles and San Francisco. He uses many different materials in his paintings and drawings; the materials vary according to what painting or drawing he has in mind and a 9"x 12" spiral-bound sketchbook with perforated pages is his ideal type of sketchbook he would like to use. Josh Keyes, like many is deeply concerned by the consequences of humanities actions on wrecking our environment and the harm it's having on humans' and our planet's future. Inspired by the 18th-century aesthetics and philosophy, he creates animals in a style reminiscent of anatomical diagrams. His works combine surrealist elements as well as fantastical features and factual imagery. Keyes composes symbolic dystopian visions which deliver messages that provide a wake up call to the masses. Josh’s images produce a tangibility that seriously strengthens the power of his forewarnings. His works centers around on animals, which he places, not in their natural environment, but in urbanized, industrial scenes, to highlight a clash of environments, where ecosystems overlap with the modern industrial human world and becomes disrupted due to our desire to develop and progress. There are a lot of elements and features in Josh Keyes's art works that really inspires, draws me in and lights and little spark in me. For me personally, my favorites style is realism. He puts a twist on my favorite style by also incorporating a message that has always haunted and yet inspired me; the message that every move humanity makes to expand our urbanized, modern and industrial world, is killing the world that was here before that industrial world, killing all of these mesmerizing and beautiful ecosystems. That really captured my attention and struck a chord somewhere in my heart. His art work doesn't give the idea of impossibility, but is very realistic and gives the idea of "when is this actually going to happen?" I like how his creations are usually void of human beings, focusing only on the animals and their unnatural and isolated surroundings and the fantastical situation or peril they were in. I enjoy the vibe of the frequent theme of displacement, conatined and complexity in his works, allows me to kinda relate to that sense of "not belonging in an ever growing world" with myself. Also his feelings of sincerity and love for the planet really come through with his message, situations he creates and the colors. The biggest reason that his works caught my eyes and made me choose him was his blend of fantastical elements with man made, industrial elements and with his landscapes, for me, is different then everything I've ever seen, and it really engages me and gives me the vibe of fresh and unique ideas and new perspective. Josh Keyes's website: https://www.joshkeyes.net/
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May 2019
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