Don Keene

Local painter Don Keene has become known in the area for his artistic expertise with the human figure, both in his own work and in his teaching, though his concerns with the figure, as well as with the world around us, are less illustrative than they are metaphoric. States Keene regarding these recent works, “I approach the traditional genre of landscape painting with a directness and lack of sentiment informed as much by 1950s abstract expressionism as by William Glackens and his Ashcan School compatriots.” Inspired by Edward Hopper’s under-populated scenes of American life with their scarcity of human presence these works strive to unify the abstract qualities and visual simplicity of the various scenes he’s motivated to depict. Shape, color and texture are paramount concerns in breaking these “earthscapes” down to their essential elements, revealing not nostalgia, but rather the pictorial power and formal force of the sometimes stark vistas. The resultant paintings, though assimilated intrinsically from imagination and/or memory, feel authentically convincing and accessible, yet with a bold nod to freewill.

See more of Don's work on Instagram @don_keene_art