| Ben Keys |
Artist Profile:
Ben Keys focuses on plein air cityscapes and coastal scenes inspired by Impressionism and many contemporary plein air artists. You may have spotted Keys working at his easel on the sidewalks of Wrightsville Beach, Wilmington, Raleigh, Chicago or the D.C. area capturing changing moments of color. Since moving from Chicago, IL to Wilmington, NC Keys has a growing appreciation of southern architecture and the landscape.
Equipped with deeply personal insight on the effect that art can have on an individual, Keys attributes his transition from the business world to a career as a painter to a variety of influences. These include his artist mother, European family roots and travels and the faith in Yeshua as Messiah. After three years of painting in North Carolina, Keys is represented by prominent galleries and owned by collectors internationally. Painting on the sidewalks has given Keys plenty of public exposure, but he has much in store for the future. His number one priority is to continue painting.
Ben Keys earned a bachelors of science in Marketing Managment at Virginia Tech before becoming a full-time painter. He studied at the Torpedo Factory, the Art Institute of Chicago and the International School of Painting, Drawing and Sculpture in Umbria, Italy. While in Chicago Keys was an artist's apprentice at Tres Jolie Studios. In 2005 he moved to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina to begin a series of architectural portraits for Wright Holman Construction Company.
"When painting the landscape, what comes in through my eyes I put on the canvas. Before and afterwards I elaborate and edit. Seeing and interpreting can be a sacred act. This act is a process which begins by simply looking at a subject and may continue indefinitely. My intent and purpose is to provide a subject for this process. In doing so I validate, confirm and communicate a measure of the act's possibility, weight and value, and therefore, that of art. I preach through the eyes."
Exhibitions:
1st Annual Candy Factory Juried Show, Manassas, VA, 2001
VMRC Annual Juried Exhibition, Harrisonburg, VA, 2003
Pop Art Now, TAG Gallery, Wilmington NC, 2004
Water, TAG Gallery, Wilmington NC, 2006
Back to the Beach, Carteret Contemporary Art, Morehead City, 2006
Locals Only, Bottega Gallery, Wilmington NC 2006 Reflections, Vicky Tesmer Gallery, Chicago IL, November 2006
Corporate Collections:
PPD Parker Development
Intrcoastal Realty
Vision Producers Incorporated
Holman & Lackey Construction Co.
POP Gallery in Santa Fe, NM is the Western representation for Ben Keys and TV Head.
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