Frank by Josh Keyes

Born in Tacoma, Washington, Josh Keyes grew up in a household of artists. With a sculptor dad and painter mom, Josh was surrounded and influenced by art from a young age on. Based in Portland, he developed into a highly renowned contemporary artist, known for creating incredible photorealistic paintings on canvas.

Eyeing his art, one has to look twice at the objects he creates, mostly animals, to make sure they’re  not captured by a camera. Mixing dystopian folktales and eco-surrealism, he paints compositions of animals and subjects roaming a world that is seemingly destroyed and left by humans, with wrecked cars, road signs and graffiti being the last remnants of the former inhabitants.

His often satirical look at the impact of urban sprawl and pollution on the environment, harming animals and nature on the way, is heavily influenced by childhood favorite sci-fi movies, like Mad Max, Escape from New York and dystopian novels by H.G. Wells and Aldous Huxley. Josh is a graduate of School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Yale, where he received a Master of Fine Arts in painting and printmaking.