Biography
Dave 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 an energetic portrayal of urban figures. Working spontaneously, and utilizing a range of mediums, he constructs multi-layered, textured environments easily likened to the complexities of contemporary life. His portraits depict beings who are both triumphant in their defiant stance to their surroundings, and tragic, as they transmit a visual display of raw emotion and jangled nerves. The style and substance of his body of work originates in street art, and in keeping with his goal “to expose as many people to art as possible and to honor the power art has when it’s created and accepted”, Kinsey founded BLK/MRKT Gallery in 2001, allowing him to provide a crossroads for a new movement of young and electrifying iconoclasts. In addition to these pursuits his fine art has been shown in galleries and museums worldwide, among these a recent exhibition at the URBIS Museum in Manchester and Art Brussels in Belgium. He has also been featured in such publications as The New York Times, Black Book and BLK/MRKT One and Two, and invited to speak at numerous institutions such as The Art Center College of Design, UCLA, Montserrat College of Art and most recently, the Semi-Permanent conference in Sydney, Australia.
Born 1971, Pittsburgh, PA
Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA
EDUCATION
Art Institute of Atlanta, 1991-1993, Illustration & Design studies
Art Institute of Pittsburgh, 1989-1990, Fine Art & Design studies
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2008 Alice Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
Lazarides Gallery, Newcastle, England
2007 BLK/MRKT Gallery, Los Angeles, CA “Sure, Why Not”
2006 The Public Trust, Dallas, TX
Alice Gallery, Brussels, Belgium “Enviromentalistic II”
Stolenspace, London, England “Enviromethodology”
2005 Boon Gallery, City, MA, “Enviromentalistic I”
2003 Basil Hayward Gallery, Portland, OR
BLK/MRKT Gallery, Los Angeles, CA “80% Post-Consumer Grade”
2001 Magda Danysz Gallery, Paris, France,“Message From The Soul”
2000 381G Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1999 ARO.SPACE Gallery, Seattle, WA
SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2008 NEXT Art Fair, Chicago – Kinsey/DesForges, Los Angeles
2007 Red Dot Fair, Miami Beach – BLK/MRKT Gallery, Los Angeles
Slick Contemporary Art Fair, Paris - Alice Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
Art Brussels – Alice Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
BLK/MRKT Gallery, Los Angeles, CA “BMG Second Artists’ Annual”
2006 Montserrat Gallery, Beverly, MA “Electric Wasteland”
111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco, CA “Fecal Face Dot Com Annual”
Receiver Gallery, San Francisco, CA “Kings and Queens”, Keep-A-Breast Charity
Art Chicago – Hotcakes Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
Art Brussels – Alice Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
BLK/MRKT Gallery, Los Angeles, CA “BMG Artists’ Annual”
2005 The Lab101 Gallery, Culver City, CA “Keep-A-Breast” Charity & Auction
Halcyon Shop, Brooklyn, NY “Hard Times” Tsunami benefit Exhibition
2004 Urbis Museum, Manchester, England “Ill Communication II”
Yerba Buena Arts Center, San Francisco, CA “Beautiful Losers”
2003 NY Arts Gallery, New York, NY “Decipher 2.0”
Alte Chemie, Munich, Germany “Modart03”
2002 Nagayo Parco Museum, Tokyo, Japan “Sk8 On The Wall”
Apart Gallery, London, England “Streetwise 1”
Compound Gallery, Portland, OR “Dave Kinsey and Andy Howell”
Revolutiones Gallery, Denver, CO “The Four Horseman”
2001 Alife, New York, NY “Arkitip - Exhibition 002”
1999 La Panaderia Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico “Dave Kinsey and Shepard Fairey”
1998 Army Street Gallery, San Francisco, CA “Survival”
1997 IP Gallery, San Diego, CA “BLK/MRKT Group Show”
1994 Underground Gallery, Atlanta, GA “Urbanistiks”
LECTURES AND PRESENTATIONS
2007 Semi-Permanent, Sydney, Australia – March, Design conference lecture
2005 Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA – December, Lecture and studio visit
Art Center, Pasadena, CA – September, Lecture and studio visit
UCLA Design class, Los Angeles, CA – June, Lecture and studio visit
2004 AIGA, Los Angeles, CA – October, Lecture and Studio visit
2003 Alte Chemie, Munich, Germany – February, Lecture & artist workshop
2001 University of Florida, Gainesville, FL – March, Ligature design conference.