Oakland-based artist Josh Keyes has set the art world on fire with his controversial blend of man and nature. Born in 1969 in Tacoma, Washington, and trained both at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and later at Yale University where he received his MFA in painting, Keyes has an impeccable eye for nature, and it comes out dramatically in his work. His paintings blend real and surreal elements into one ever-growing style that distinctly resembles natural history museum dioramas and cross-section illustrations from vintage science textbooks.
"My work often contains a hybridization of concepts and imagery that express global concerns about ecological, political, and militarism issues. I try to create work that fuses my personal mythology and imagery with these concerns. The result is a continuous and evolving pattern of fragmented imagery that slowly unfolds and folds like a patchwork quilt. The work functions for me as a record of both my personal history and interpretation of events in the world." – Josh Keyes.
