Dave Kinsey

Stop and think for a moment of how empty art would be were it not for the simplest of subjects. Flowers, for example. Without those pond lilies he eventually made famous, Monet would have had to content himself with sundry objects found around the yard or (perhaps) the always-less-than obliging family cat. Van Gogh's sunflowers would not be visible to us. Nor, for that matter, would 50% of Georgia O'Keefe's catalogue of works - and she went on record as saying she didn't even like flowers!

Dave Kinsey has done what others have done before and he has done it well. His 3R Daisies (the numeral-letter being a reference to Three Rivers, California) is yet another reminder that colors are the playful and restive ghosts within nature. They seem to abide, they give the appearance of being imprisoned within matter, but all that is illusion; they are linked to light as lovers are linked by passion. This still-life of ordinary daisies is infused with so much heat that the viewer should not be surprised by a sudden blush rising to his or her cheeks.

We wanted to go big with Dave Kinsey's second release with 1xRUN and thought "Flowers", based on the current series he's been working over the past few years, would be perfect. We're grateful for the opportunity to bring this print to all of you, our collectors.

Dave Kinsey was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1971 and attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and Atlanta before moving to California in 1994 to pursue a career as a designer and fine artist. His work attempts to capture the universal essence of the human condition mainly through a symbolic portrayal of contemporary life. Utilizing a range of mediums, he constructs multi-layered, textured environments that echo the complexities of our existence. His fine art has been shown in galleries and museums worldwide and has been featured in local and international print and online publications from The New York Times and Washington Post to Hypebeast. Among many varied art and design accomplishments, Kinsey was recently selected to participate in an international Absolut artist campaign leading to the commissioned design of a signature Absolut Vodka bottle in 2013.

In 1997 Kinsey founded the design studio BLK/MRKT, working with clients such as Nike, Apple and DC Shoes. In 2002, the company expanded to add a fine art gallery Kinsey/DesForges (formally BLK/MRKT Gallery) and BLK/MRKT Editions. In 2010 Kinsey relocated to the Sierra Nevada mountains north of Los Angeles to pursue painting fulltime.