As any visit to Santa Fe’s Canyon Road or New York’s Chelsea district quickly makes clear, sales and artistic quality don’t always have much to do with each other in the art world.
But when Portland, Ore., painter Josh Keyes’ solo exhibition at the David B. Smith Gallery sold out at the Nov. 5 opening, with collectors flying in from across the country to attend, it was hard not to take notice.
After all, the economy remains distressed and most local art galleries are still feeling the financial pain, with some shows coming and going without a single sale.
But there is an unmistakable buzz around Keyes that has somehow allowed him to escape, at least for now, the sales downturns that have jarred many other artists.
To do that, he has gotten almost no help so far from such traditional career builders in the art world as museums and established magazines like Artforum or Art in America.
Instead, his main boost has come from alternative media. He has been featured in the last 1 1/2 years on the covers of several newer, nontraditional art magazines like Juxtapoz and Hi Fructose, which spotlight emerging, underground artists and, not coincidentally, have strong presences on the Internet.
In addition, he has been the darling of such websites as , which describes its content as a “mix of underground culture, city-centric musings, and cultural epithets” and its audience as an “eclectic flock of cultureholics.”
The big question is: Why? What is it about his work that has proved so appealing to this non-mainstream sector of the art world?
The answers lie in his crisp, easy-to-reproduce style, readily discernible subject matter and knack — conscious or subconcious — for plugging into certain key trends running through contemporary art.
With the emergence of virtual reality, for example, viewers seem increasingly fascinated by constructed, theatrical worlds versus naturalism, and with that has come a passion for narrative. Keyes’ work supplies both.
The 10 acrylic paintings in this latest show, which the artist says were inspired by an allegorical series of alchemical engravings from about the 16th century, depict the slightly surreal collision of the natural and urban worlds.
The nine 30-by-40-inch selections tell a symbolic story of death and transformation, with a deer being attacked and killed by a group of hyenas and then its bones and essence transmuting into other imagery and taking on a kind of magical afterlife.
This subject matter sounds dark and violent, and it is to a certain point, but any potential grisliness is almost entirely mitigated by the deliberately cool, detached, even clinical approach that Keyes takes to this subject matter.
Providing relief at times are the unexpected doses of wit, such as the beehive that has been jammed (by pranksters?) onto the nose of the bronze sculptural version of the deer in “Throne,” with angry bees buzzing around.
The scenes are rendered with intricate, realistic detail. They look like scientific dioramas floating against empty white backgrounds, with the animals and other elements positioned on detached sections of asphalt or earth that serve as kind of pedestals or plinths.
While there is much to admire about these works, especially Keyes’ refined technique, they veer dangerously into illustration, with their readily accessible visual language and uncomplicated storytelling.
By including urban markers, such as graffiti-stained street signs, and giving the paintings a metaphorical, au courant tie to the many environmental issues swirling around, he attempts to give them added conceptual heft.
But it’s easy to wonder if ultimately these works aren’t a little too clever and pat for their own good.
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com
“COLLISON.”
Art. David B. Smith Gallery, 1543A Wazee St. A solo exhibition of 10 recent paintings by Josh Keyes, a rising Portland, Ore., artist who has generated considerable national buzz. Through Dec. 11. Noon to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Free. 303-893-4234 or
