ARTIST'S STATEMENT

                                                                                   (Genre)

My interest in art has always centered around the human figure, particularly female, and the power in its sexual (or at least sensual) visual aura. As incongruous as it might ostensibly seem, I also find it liberating to strive for the same qualities of expression in portraiture and landscape (or as I term it, genre, to allow for the possible inclusion of water, buildings and people) by focusing there as well on abstraction of shape, form and color. If I can get to the primordial, or the essential, quality of a face or genre scene, I believe I have unleashed a power which is basic to its nature and understanding; and the beauty in this depiction, if attained, will be in concert with that which might accurately be described as the naked truth.

I approach the traditional genre of landscape painting with a directness and lack of sentiment informed as much by 1950s abstract expressionism, as by William Glackens and his Ashcan School compatriots. Inspired by Edward Hopper’s under-populated scenes of American life, most of these paintings lack human presence, while bringing out the abstract qualities and stark simplicity of the various scenes I'm motivated to depict. Shape, color and texture are paramount concerns as I break the landscapes down to their essential elements, revealing not nostalgia, but rather the power and force of the sometimes stark vistas.

                                                                                             Don Keene

                                                                                             2020