NEWS - ARTWORK

Losing Faith by Kinsey

Dave Kinsey was born in Pittsburgh in 1971 and attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and the Art Institute of Atlanta before moving to California in 1994 to pursue a career as a designer and fine artist.

His work captures the universal essence of the human condition mainly through a symbolic portrayal of contemporary life. Working spontaneously, and utilizing a range of mediums, he constructs multi-layered, environments easily likened to the complexities of the human experience.

Kinsey founded BLK/MRKT Gallery in 2001 to provide a crossroads for a new movement of emerging and electrifying iconoclasts. In addition to these pursuits his fine art has been shown in galleries and museums worldwide, among these exhibitions at the URBIS Museum in Manchester, NEXT Chicago, Lazarides Gallery and Art Brussels in Belgium.

He has also been featured in such publications as The New York Times, LA weekly and BLK/MRKT One and Two, and invited to speak at numerous institutions such as University of Florida, Art Center, UCLA, Montserrat College of Art and the Semi-Permanent conference in Sydney, Australia.

Dave Kinsey has made quite a success of himself. He has been running his own design firm for over ten years, and in 2001 he opened one of LA’s most important venues, BLK/MKT Gallery. All the while he has been producing extraordinary paintings, beginning with skateboard aesthetic street installations and now moving towards more abstract paintings.

He received much press for a controversial series featuring Jesus with his face painted like members of K.I.S.S., bringing to light his strong opinions about organized religion. But with or without Jesus, his paintings are always charged; bright red and black paint render faces, skulls, and animal bodies overlain with thin white outlines of contradicting angles. The result is a beautiful maze of intertwined images, demanding contemplation beyond the surface of the paint.

An Interview with Kinsey

Q: There is a now healthy market for art originating from skateboarding, graffiti, and other urban subcultures. Why are there more collectors now interested in this art movement than when you started out?

A: Yes, this genre of work is now being sought-after by serious art collectors and galleries around the world. I feel what happened can be attributed to a few things. First, you have a group of collectors who have been following the major players in this movement for the past decade and have grown with them.

Now older, many are in a position to start collecting art and supporting their favorite artists. I don’t know how may times I’ve heard people say, “I’ve been collecting your prints for ten years and now it’s time to graduate to buying an original.”

In addition, the work coming from this movement has provoked public commentary via the internet and magazines and has enabled a whole new segment of the population to join the ranks of art lovers that visit galleries and museums without discomfort or the vibe that smacks of elitism.

PHOTO ALBUM

An Interview with Kinsey (cont)

Q: Why did this art movement take so long to catch on?

A: I feel the energy, determination, and successes of a group of like-minded individuals have propelled this art into a new realm where labels are not necessarily going to prevent exposure to the traditional art world if the talent is there. History has shown that the established artworld has always resisted the “new” but ultimately, good art stands true.

Q: I understand your father was a minister. How does your family react to your controversial use of iconic religious imagery?

A: To be honest, I don’t think they pay much attention. Even if they did, I doubt they’d say anything. My dad is a pretty laid-back minister. Episcopalians are the more loosely disciplined of all the Christian religions.

Q: You said once that most Christian ideals are based in fear. How did this affect you growing up?

A: Once I realized that the teachings I was receiving were deceiving, I started questioning everything and that shaped me into a more open-minded and curious person. At least that’s the way I see it.

Q: Do you see organized religion as having any positive attributes?

A: Possibly. It may give some people a sense of purpose and a set of fundamentals to live by. Which I guess is good if they actually live by them.

Q: Are your parents supportive of your current beliefs?

A: No, not really. I mean, they don’t hate me for not being into their organized religion, but they’re definitely not happy about it either. I think it confuses them that I don’t believe in their ideas of God. My mom probably thinks I’ll find “God” eventually, but what she doesn’t understand is that my idea of God and hers are totally different—my family does not understand spiritualism from a naturalist angle at all. I feel comfortable living without fairy tales. Once you’ve accepted life for what it is, there’s not much else to try and figure out.

Q: You mentioned in one interview that we grow up with “second-hand knowledge.” What do you consider as your personal” second-hand” versus “first-hand knowledge”?

A: Second-hand knowledge for me basically encompasses all the beliefs I was taught by my family and community as a kid, and first-hand knowledge, predictably, was everything I learned once I was able to verify life experiences for myself.

I think an important part of what I’m trying to say with this is that we all live by second-hand knowledge—and much of that may be good—but many of us don’t consciously realize or think about the fact that many of our beliefs and convictions have been essentially handed down to us by our families, peers, and the media.

We are living not by what we ourselves believe to be true but what someone else has dictated to us. This can cover everything from religion and all the ‘isms’ to personal choices we make everyday.

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