Dave Kinsey

The "complexities of our existence" become complex only after we examine them in a simple context or frame of view. Dave Kinsey's Man from Topanga is (obviously) a profile portrait of someone - good proportion, fine use of line, excellent detail - but it is also a marvelous example of how color can delineate emotional depth and even afford a thoughtful musing or two about those aforementioned complexities.

The somber expression of the gentleman hints at a mood of ennui; he is "whole" and "transparent" at the same. The cigarette seems forgotten and the black descending vertical off-center from his face implies a casual disinterest in whatever he may be hearing. Not to suggest that Kinsey is being derivative, but here is a disciplined and imaginative style that prompts favorable comparison to the post-war German expressionists or the visceral (albeit less horrific) immediacy of Francis Bacon.

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.