Surrounded On All Sides, 2015 / Oil, acrylic, and India ink on canvas / 48 x 38 inches
Dreaming Chief , 2015 / 28 x 22 inches / Oil, acrylic, India ink
Chief Plans A Trip (second version), 2015 / 28 x 22 inches / Oil, acrylic, India ink
Projector Whirs, 2015 / Oil, India ink, and acrylic on canvas / 22 x 17 inches
Introducing Flirty La Morte, 2015 / Oil and acrylic ink on canvas / 20 x 15 inches
National Park, 2015 / Oil and India ink on canvas / 48 x 38 inches
Ken Craft (b. 1967 New Mexico) is an artist based in Dallas, TX. His work reflects an interest in representational scene painting alongside cartoon story telling. Craft 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. He’s influenced by Gustave Courbet, Art Spiegelman, Gerhard Richter, George Herriman, and - lately - Philip Guston.
His recent work reflects an interest in representational scene painting alongside cartoon story telling. 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 considers himself a painter working mostly in watercolor and in oil. His work is generally representational in appearance but considers himself to be a conceptualist. He explores a variety of themes such as peoples past, natural history, evolution, and the day to day struggles we all contend with. He claims he often feels as though he's telling a story in his work and - in fact - there is often a written narrative in each work to be found.
He has been in numerous group exhibits and solo shows across the country. In June 2015 I exhibited 3 paintings in a juried exhibit at Artspace 111 in Ft. Worth, TX and was awarded the Top Choice prize by juror, Vernon Fisher. In the fall of 2019, he received a 3 week residency at MASS MoCA. He was also recently featured in New American Painting’s #138 covering the Western United States.
