OVERVIEWS
WARREN KEATING
JULY 10 – AUGUST 9, 2008
Artist reception: Thursday, July 10th 6-9pm
From bridges, balconies and roof tops, high above his unsuspecting subjects, Warren Keating shoots video footage of people passing in a variety of familiar and foreign locations. Through a painstaking process Keating selects the exact frame that tells the story by capturing a particular shift of weight, a swing of the arms or a tilt of the head. Then using a computer the image is further digitized and eventually translated through paint on canvas in a style that is one part impression and one part digitization: “digital impressionistic”; mark-making in thick paint that renders the motion in the form of video scan lines and pixel artifacts.
“Overviews” is a selection of work from Keating’s award winning “Private Eye’s View” series which he began in 2001. Earlier work began with still shots and is therefore less digitized. The progression of this fascinating series is clearly evident in this show. This series brings together many elements that artists have explored throughout the 20th Century: abstract naturalism, expressive realism, narrative painting, photography and video. In each work, we find organic shapes of foreshortened figures forming dynamic relationships with the patterns and walkways of their urban environments. Opposing elements of photography and abstraction somehow come together as perfect partners in this blending of 20th century painting ideas; abstraction, expression and narration with 21st Century technology; digitized video, satellite surveillance and internet voyeurism.
Keating was born in New Orleans in 1965. A child prodigy, Keating won several regional awards in oil and watercolor painting and received more than a half-dozen commissions before reaching the age of 18. Before graduating from Otis Parsons, he was chosen to display his work at the Mississippi Artists Annual Juried Exhibition, and has had several of his paintings published by national magazines. Since graduating, Keating has had numerous solo shows in the U.S. and Mexico, including juried shows at the University of Southern Mississippi (juried by Hiram Williams), Otis Parson’s School of Design, Los Angeles and last year at the Long Beach Art Museum where he won first place. Contributing to various nonprofits his work has also been featured in the Union Rescue Mission Art Collection and at benefits for the Los Angeles Women’s Shakespeare Company, The Dorland Arts Colony and The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.
M.J. HIGGINS began showing Warrens Keating’s work in May 2007 when he was included in “Paintography”, a show addressing the criticism of the use of photography in fine art, featuring artists who use unconventional photography methods to inspire their or other artist’s paintings or to resemble painting.
M.J. HIGGINS FINE ART
110 E. 4th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Hours: Tues. – Sat. 11-6
Contact: Richard Currier
213.617.1700
