"My intention is to create work that asks questions about the implications of urban sprawl and its impact on the environment. I am interested in creating psychological narratives set in closed systems that express the behavior of and the interaction between humans and animals. The dystopian model creates a dynamic playing field where I can experiment with these ideas and forms. "
The imagery of Josh Keyes' artwork is a response to the endless storm of information, events, and visual phenomena that we encounter in today's culture. Like an archeologist, Josh isolates narrative scraps from the world and places them in the void of the canvas to see what they might become. The images are meant to feel clinical and detached, with a diagrammatic quality that arises from his desire to see things more clearly. Compartmentalized and remote, they comment on the isolating impact of technology and our culture of consumption.
Though often steeped in satire, Josh's drawings and paintings are also suffused with a sincere admiration of our planet. His altered landscapes reveal both the intricacy of the earth as a system and the complexity of our response to the natural world, while retaining a sense of specificity and intimacy.
Raised in Tacoma, Washington, Keyes grew up surrounded by forests, and witnessed their decimation by the logging industry. Josh earned a bachelor's degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a master's degree in Fine Arts from Yale University. His work has been published in New American Painters and exhibited in galleries in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York.
