Josh Keyes

About

Josh Keyes is an American contemporary artist born on August 17, 1969, in Tacoma, Washington, to artist parents—a sculptor father and painter mother—who fostered his early interest in art. Growing up in the lush, rainy Pacific Northwest inspired his fascination with nature, influenced by sci-fi films like Dark Crystal and Mad Max, dystopian novels by H.G. Wells and Aldous Huxley, and scientific illustrations. He earned a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1992 and an MFA in painting and printmaking from Yale University in 1998. After Yale, he developed his unique style amid the New Contemporary Art movement, blending pop surrealism, lowbrow, and hyper-realism to explore personal mythology, environmental concerns, and dystopian narratives. Keyes has lived in Oakland, California, and now resides in Portland, Oregon, with his wife, artist Lisa Ericson, and their daughter.

Eco-surrealist with photorealistic, dystopian depictions of graffiti-covered wilderness, urban sprawl's environmental impact, and clinical scientific illustrations