Closing Reception: Ken Craft - Manifold Nature

1501 S Ervay,Dallas TX 75215

10 April, 2021

Description

Ken Craft is a painter and firefighter who incorporates seemingly oppositional visual styles to create his narratives. Where: Ro2 Art | The Cedars 1501 S Ervay St. Dallas, TX 75215 Closing Reception: Saturday, April 10, 12-5 PM Ro2 Art is proud to present Manifold Nature, a solo exhibition featuring new works by artist Ken Craft. The show will run from March 13 through April 10, 2021. The exhibition will close with an artist reception at Ro2 Art The Cedars located at 1501 S Ervay St, Dallas, TX and will take place from 12-5 PM. Ken Craft is a painter who incorporates seemingly oppositional visual styles to create his narratives. Using both representational painting, and a more gestural comic book style, Craft makes sense of his world through capturing moments both mundane and monumental. Nature here functions as a visual landscape and psychological backdrop for internal forces to play out. Working on unconventional materials like cardboard and found panels underscores the transitory nature of human connection during times beyond our control. Craft brings his experience as a firefighter to ruminate on these larger forces through drawing, watercolor and oil. Artist Statement “We’ve all heard of writer’s or artist’s block, right? Well, for the last couple of years I’ve had something like the opposite. More like artist’s flood. Ideas and themes and formal considerations have led me down familiar paths, twisted alleyways, and strange cul-de-sacs. It’s little wonder what’s led to such variety in this current work. Haven’t we all been through an awful lot lately? We’re all nervous wrecks. Political turmoil, the struggle for equality and justice among so many, terrifying climate change events, and oh, yeah… a historic pandemic that’s killed millions worldwide. Besides being an artist I’m a full-time fire Captain. It’s a job I continue to love but as the years have ticked by the stresses have certainly compiled. The pandemic in particular, along with its associated political infighting, has been the toughest thing I’ve lived through as a firefighter. Perhaps the most difficult times many of us have ever experienced. And against this big, troubled backdrop you make some art. Grappling with figures and forms and how to depict them in manifold nature.” About The Artist Ken Craft (b. 1967 New Mexico), is an artist based in Dallas, TX. He and his wife, Carolyn, live just east of Dallas. His work reflects an interest in representational scene painting alongside cartoon story telling. He’s influenced by Gustave Courbet but also Art Spiegelman. By both Gerhard Richter and George Herriman. And lately, Philip Guston. He is creating original comics characters for his paintings. The work is meant to exist as both traditional easel painting and as a form of comics. Craft himself has existed in two worlds for over 21 years now, maintaining a career as a professional firefighter while painting as often as he can. He has been in numerous group exhibits over the years in Dallas and has had 3 solo exhibits there. In June 2015 he exhibited 3 paintings in a juried exhibit at Artspace 111 in Ft. Worth, TX and was awarded the Top Choice prize. He was invited to exhibit some of that same work recently in a group show at Mark Moore Gallery in Los Angeles. He paints more these days and is looking forward to becoming a full time artist in the near future. About Ro2 Art Ro2 Art is a contemporary fine art gallery with spaces in The Cedars Neighborhood and Downtown Dallas, representing a diverse group of emerging, mid-career, and established contemporary artists – many with ties to the North Texas Region. The gallery, founded in 2010 by mother-and-son partners Susan Roth Romans and Jordan Roth, regularly collaborates with organizations such as The MAC and Cedars Union, and maintains an exhibition program within the Magnolia Theatre at West Village and other satellite venues. Ro2 Art has been named Dallas Observer's Best Art Gallery and was presented with the 25th Annual Obelisk Award for small business by the North Texas Business Council for the Arts. The gallery’s art fair program has included the Dallas Art Fair, Texas Contemporary, and Art Aspen. More info: http://www.ro2art.com All works will be on view March 13, 2020 – April 3, 2021. Please join us for the opening reception on Saturday, March 13, 12-5 PM at Ro2 Art, located at 1501 S Ervay St, Dallas TX 75215. For more information, visit www.Ro2art.com