Josh Keyes

This is a little disturbing. No, this is big time disturbing. I hope Josh Keyes doesn’t have the crazy ability of seeing the future and painting it (Heroes reference, anyone?)

As a kid I always collected different types of encyclopedia but always loved and preferred those with pictures in them in stead of those with photographic images. Somehow it gave me the sense that there is something more to the encyclopedia than just learning about animals and such. Turns out with Josh’s art, that I was right. His style is reminiscent of the diagrammatic vocabulary found in scientific textbook illustrations that often express through a detached and clinical viewpoint an empirical representation of the natural world. Assembled into this virtual stage set are references to contemporary events along with images and themes from his personal mythology. Josh Keyes’ work is a hybrid of eco-surrealism and dystopian folktales that express a concern for our time and the Earth’s future. Plus, it makes for amazing desktop wallpaper!

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 University. Keyes currently lives and works in Portland Oregon.