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Art by Genre	Artist List:  Select Artist BALCEREK, MARGO BASS, SHARON BELLINI, LUIGI BERNSTEIN, WILLIAM AND KATHERINE BRAITMAN, ANDY BURRIDGE, ROBERT CAMPBELL, RACHEL CARDENAS, JASON CARTER, EVA CHAPMAN, JIM CHASE, JEFF CHENET, GINNY CHIARIZIA, VICTOR COLWELL, SUSAN COSPER, CHER CRAM, JERRY CUNNINGHAM, ANNE DANIEL, ARLENE DEAN, LARRY DENNIS, WARREN DIGIULIO, JOSEPH DIGIULIO, SHARON DOBBS, MARK DUNN, MARIANNE EDWARDS, STERLING FAIRMAN, BRUCE FAUDREE, JANE FERRERI, JUSTINE FISCHER/WARNICA FORBES-DESOULE, STEVEN FOUST, CHARLOTTE FUSION Z GAITHER, J.L. GOLDSMITH, CAROLYN GRANT, VICKI GURGANUS, CRAIG HARRIS, SCOTT HECHT, SUSAN HIBBARD, BRIAN HIBBARD, KAYLI HILL, MARGARET HOOVER, DREW HOTCHKISS MOBILES HOWELL, PATSY HULET, DINAH & PATTY JASLOW, TED JOHNSON, BRUCE JOHNSON, MANDY KARG, ROLLIN KERR, JAMES KEYS, BEN KITRAS GLASS LEARY, DEAN LITTLE RIVER HOTGLASS LOGAN, CONNIE MADDEN, ELENA MARTIN, CATHERINE MARTIN, DEBBIE MASELLI, KIMBERLEE MATTHEWS, BUNNY MCCLURE, NANCY MCLEAN, HOLT MERTZ, DON MOORE, STEVE MORENO, HENRY MORRIS, SUZANNE MOSELEY, WILLIAM WARD MURPHY, DAN NELSON, SANDY NESBIT, ANGELA NEWELL, LENI ORTEGA, ALBERTO OWEN, VIRGINIA PANTAS, SUSANNA PASSAGE, JEFFREY PATMAN-CHANDLER, REBECCA PEARCE, BROOKS PILKINGTON, PAT PITTMAN, JEFF POPE, CAROL KING PRINGLE, ELIZABETH CATE ROONEY, MIKE SANTO TOMAS, HILDI SCARBOROUGH, CHIP SCOTT, KAREN SMIROLDO, MICHAEL SMITH, DANIEL SMITH, NELSON STRICKLAND, MERRILY SUGARFOOT JEWELS SUTTON, SALLY THOREN, ROBERT TUNKEL, RICK VAN HOUT, MICHAEL VINOSUS HANDMADE JEWELRY WADLEY, TY WALLACE, NANCY WATSON, NEIL WESTFALL, NANCY B. WIMER, ROD WINTERS, CONNIE WOLPER, MERYL WORM, KATE YOUNG, DARREN
View images by KEYS, BEN

KEYS, BEN

Originally from Manassas, Virginia, Ben Keys is an emerging artist whose passion for painting can be traced back to the influence of his mother, painter Jeanie Collin Keys, the strong ties of his family to their European roots, and his European travels. In 2003, Keys studied painting with Dan Gustin at the Art Institute of Chicago, and spent the summer of 2004 in Italy at the International School of Painting, Drawing and Sculpture in Umbria. There he worked with Israel Hershberg of the Jerusalem Studio School, Bruce Gagnier of the New York Studio School, and Barry Nemett of the Maryland Institute College of Art. Keys’ paintings include an effervescent series titled “TV Head” executed in a graphic, comic strip style with neon colors: a refreshing flashback with a twist to the graffiti-art movement of NYC in the 1980's. Keys uses thick, bold lines, generous application of fluorescent paint, and charcoal markings on wood and canvas to depict a humorous world of media-obsessed, technology-laden individuals with product-garnered identities. He creates this fantasy realm with a visual language derived from such various sources as road signs, AOL iconography and comic strips. Each piece is layered with color, texture, and esoteric symbolism to express euphoria and to render Keys’ unique view of popular culture. Keys also works in a more traditional milieu inspired by French Impressionism, especially Eduoard Manet, and the revolutionary Post-Impressionist, Vincent Van Gogh. Other influences on his art include Henri Matisse, Marcel Duchamp, Jackson Pollock, Jasper Johns, Phillip Guston, Fernand Leger, Diego Riviera, 80’s rap music and the band Radiohead. Keys also finds great satisfaction taking his easel out into the streets of Chicago, or wherever he is at the moment, to capture the stimulating effects of changing light and scenery. Keys plans to continue pursuing both the American and European-rooted approaches to painting and is interested in fusing the two schools and their subject matter. Keys has a unique perspective on the transforming effect that Art can have on the individual, as he was once a business major at Virginia Tech and worked in the “dot com” world before devoting himself to painting. Keys currently resides in Wilmington, North Carolina.