With such rapid and immense development of science and technology in the past few decades, civilization is moving towards a more “mechanical” future and surroundings, one that puts into question our relationship with nature and its inhabitants. There are many concerns in this regard and we’re seeing a lot of them even today, as we try to balance between modern technology and natural aspects. Presenting his view on the matter, Kevin Sloan’s practice consists of paintings that are widely portraying these issues and the relation between man and animal in contemporary times. In his detailed work, he looks to reconcile civilization and nature as he creates an awkward mixture of the two worlds.
In his work, Sloan turns to the natural surroundings that pillars our technological advancement and is often at the receiving end of these breakthroughs. It could be said that he stands as an ambassador to these “silent citizens” of the Earth we all share, bringing to the forefront many issues that stand between us. Far from assaulting the modern way of life, Sloan acknowledges the contemporary society and rather creates a dialog between the two, often showing awkward, yet beautiful concoctions of what both worlds have to offer. Seeking a sort of harmony and balance, his works go back and forth between the natural and technological environment, creating a symbolical realm of realistic questions and issues.
Kevin Sloan goes to great lengths when it comes to detail, to the point where his paintings can be compared to photography. With that in mind, Sloan decided to add a surreal aspect to his pieces, moving his body of work in a different direction. Permeated with an allegorical nuance, his paintings portray realistically depicted individual elements in an unrealistic setting, forcing an interaction between nature and technology. The background is often an image for itself, displaying a natural ambience in incredible detail that possibly represents an escape from the conflict depicted in the foreground.
By presenting the animals and nature in conjunction with the elements out of our modern way of life, Kevin Sloan poses a lot of questions and leaves the narrative opened to interpretation and answering. These aren’t intended for big enterprises or communities; they’re for every one of us that share this common ground, individually affecting not just the current state between the two worlds, but how it will be perceived in the future. Sloan’s paintings remind us of the existence of those that cannot be heard, and they do so in an astonishing portrayal of mystery and beauty.
Featured image: Kevin Sloan. All photos credit the artist.
All images used for illustrative purposes only.
Year | Exhibition Title | Gallery/Museum | Solo/Group |
---|---|---|---|
2016 | Platinum Blend 2 | Modern Eden Gallery, San Francisco, CA | Group |
2016 | Animalia | Abend Gallery, Denver, CO | Group |
2016 | Art of the Sate 2016 | Arvada Center, Arvada, CO | Group |
2016 | A Delicate Balance | Gardner Colby Gallery, Naples, FL | Group |
2015 | A Delicate Balance | Clark Gallery, Lincoln MA | Solo |
2015 | An Artist and a Naturalist: John James Audubon and Kevin Sloan | Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center | Solo |
2015 | The Storytellers | Gardner Colby Gallery, Naples, FL | Solo |
2015 | Conscious and Unconscious: Subjects of the Real &Surreal | Arvada Center, Arvada, CO | Group |
2015 | National Contemporary Realism | M.A. Dornan Gallery, Tulsa, OK | Group |
2014 | National Contemporary Realism | M.A. Dornan Gallery, Tulsa, OK | Group |
2014 | April Flowers | Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA | Group |
2014 | Brink | Antler Gallery, Portland, OR | Group |
2014 | 20th Anniversary Show | Gardner Colby Gallery, Naples, FL | Group |
2013 | Introducing Kevin Sloan | William Havu Gallery, Denver, CO | Solo |
2013 | New Paintings | Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA | Solo |
2013 | The Naturalist’s Notebook | Ironton Gallery, Denver, CO | Solo |
2013 | Modern Times | Gardner Colby Gallery, Naples, FL | Solo |
2013 | Annual Group Show | Ironton Gallery, Denver, CO | Group |
2012 | New Paintings | Richard J. Demato Fine Art, Sag Harbor, NY | Solo |
2012 | The Peaceable Kingdom | Gardner Colby Gallery, Naples, FL | Solo |
2012 | Random Acts of Time | Orange County Museum of Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA | Group |
2012 | Rejuvenation | Richard J. Demato Fine Art, Sag Harbor, NY | Group |
2011 | The Cabinet of Curiosities | 2011 Gardner Colby Gallery, Naples, FL | Solo |
2011 | Modern Parables | Gilman Contemporary, Ketchum, ID | Solo |
2011 | White on White | Harrison Gallery, Key West, FL | Group |
2010 | Menagerie | Gardner Colby Gallery, Naples, FL | Solo |
2010 | Strange Eden | 2009 Gilman Contemporary, Sun Valley, ID | Solo |
2010 | Rare Things | Gardner Colby Gallery, Amazing, Naples, FL | Solo |
2009 | Flower Power | Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA | Group |
2009 | Birds in Art | Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, W | Group |
2008 | Dreams and Allegories | Gardner Colby Gallery, Naples, FL | Solo |
2008 | Salon Show | Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA | Group |
2008 | Annual Group Exhibition | Patricia Rovzar Gallery, Seattle, WA | Group |
2008 | Big Impressions | Gilman Contemporary, Sun Valley, ID | Group |
2007 | The Sacred Ordinary | Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ | Solo |
2007 | New Paintings | Gilman Contemporary, Sun Valley, ID | Group |
2007 | A Walk on the Wild Side | Gardner Colby Gallery, Naples, FL | Group |
2007 | Desire | Fresh Paint, Culver City CA | Group |
2006 | Mystery and Whimsy in the Landscape | Gardner Colby Gallery, Naples, FL | Solo |
2005 | Memories and Allegories | Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ | Solo |
2004 | Exotica | Gardner Colby Gallery, Naples, FL | Solo |
2004 | Colors Without Lines | Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, NM | Group |
2003 | Mediterrania | Gardner Colby Gallery, Naples, FL | Solo |
2003 | Innocence and Experience | Chiaroscuro, Santa Fe, NM | Solo |
2003 | The Garden of Compassion | Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ | Group |
2003 | Magic Realism: A New Generation | Sangre de Cristo Arts Center, Pueblo, CO | Group |
2002 | Retablos | Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ | Solo |
2002 | Scenes From My Garden | Gardner Colby Gallery, Naples, FL | Solo |
2002 | El Sagrado Teatro | Chiaroscuro, Santa Fe, NM | Solo |
2002 | The Garden Of Earthly Delights | Gardner Colby Gallery, Naples, FL | Solo |
2002 | Living in the Presence of the Buddha | Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ | Group |
2002 | The Magnificent Subject: Friends From the John Sloan Drawing Group | Wyeth Hurd Gallery, Santa Fe, NM | Group |
2001 | Italianate | Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ | Group |
2000 | Tabula Rasa | Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ | Solo |
2000 | Update 2000 | Fresh Paint, Culver City, CA | Group |
1999 | New Still Life Paintings | Katharina Rich Perlow Gallery, New York, NY | Solo |
1999 | The Poet’s Garden | Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ | Solo |
1999 | Summer Group | Katharina Rich Perlow Gallery, New York, NY | Group |
1999 | Contemporary Citrus Imagery by Florida Artists | Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa FL | Group |
1999 | Florida Fellowship Exhibition | University of West Florida Gallery, Pensacola, FL | Group |
1998 | Ancient Cornucopia | Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ | Solo |
1998 | Gallery Artists and New Talent | Katharina Rich Perlow Gallery, New York, NY | Group |
1998 | Florida Fellowship Exhibition | Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL | Group |
1998 | Tribute | Joseph Gross Gallery, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ | Group |
1998 | Salon de Refuses | Broward Art Guild, Ft. Lauderdale, FL | Group |
1997 | Offerings and Meditations | Gwenda Jay Gallery, Chicago, IL | Solo |
1997 | Tableaux Vivants | Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ | Solo |
1996 | Elegance and Decay | Galerie Simonne Stern, New Orleans, LA | Solo |
1996 | 15th Anniversary Exhibition | Etherton Gallery, Tucson, AZ | Group |
1996 | Art Walk 12 | Microsoft Corporation, Print Exhibition, Redmond, WA | Group |
1996 | Natural Selection | Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ | Group |
1995 | Poetry and Jasmine | Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ | Solo |
1995 | Paintings From an Elysian Garden | Eva Cohon Gallery, Chicago, IL | Solo |
1995 | New Views | Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ | Group |
1995 | Art Walk 11 | Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA | Group |
1995 | Musical Instruments as Art | 400 South Hope Associates, Los Angeles, CA | Group |
1994 | Music of the Spheres | Koplin Gallery, Santa Monica, CA | Solo |
1994 | Paintings From Arcadia | Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ | Solo |
1994 | Slice of Life: Contemporary Still Lives | Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA | Group |
1994 | Contemporary Realists | Halls Gallery, Kansas City, MO | Group |
1994 | Small Works | Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ | Group |
1993 | The Garden of Earthly Delights | Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco | Solo |
1993 | Alumni Invitational Exhibition | Joseph Gross Gallery, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ | Group |
1993 | What Heaven Looks Like | San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA | Group |
1992 | Old Poems, New Prayers | Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ | Solo |
1992 | Why Painting, Part I | Susan Cummins Gallery, Mill Valley, CA | Group |
1992 | The Crucifixion Through the Modern Eye | Hearst Art Gallery, St. Mary’s College, Moraga, CA | Group |
1992 | Still Lives | Zen Center Hospice Guest House, San Francisco, CA | Group |
1991 | Introductions | Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA | Solo |
1991 | Paintings | University of Montana, Missoula, MT | Solo |
1991 | Paintings | Etherton/Stern Gallery, Tucson, AZ | Solo |
1991 | The Sacred Landscape | Susan Cummins Gallery, Mill Valley, CA | Group |
1991 | June Salon | Upaya Gallery, San Francisco, CA | Group |
1991 | Wet Paint | Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA | Group |
1991 | Contemporary Art I | Upaya Gallery, San Francisco, CA | Group |
1990 | Recent Paintings | Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ | Solo |
1990 | Selections From Local Corporate Collections | The Old Pueblo Museum, Tucson, AZ | Group |
1989 | Recent Paintings | Scottsdale Center for the Arts, Scottsdale, AZ | Solo |
1989 | The New/Old Landscape | University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ | Group |
1988 | Emerging Artists | Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ | Solo |
1988 | New Paintings | Mesa Gallery,San Francisco, CA | Solo |
1988 | Landscape Anthology | Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York, | Group |
1988 | Invitational Exhibition | Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York, NY | Group |
1986 | New American Talent | Laguna Gloria Museum, Austin, TX | Group |
1986 | 1986 National Juried Exhibition | San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, CA | Group |
1986 | 21st Southwestern Invitational | Yuma Art Center, Yuma, AZ | Group |
1986 | 17th Annual National Juried Competition | Greensboro Artists’ League, Greensboro, NC | Group |
1986 | National Landscape Exhibition | Pensacola Junior College, Pensacola, FL | Group |
1986 | Post-Modern Renaissance Paintings | Rancho Linda Vista, Oracle, AZ | Group |
1986 | Arizona Biennial | Tucson Museum of Art, , Tucson, AZ | Group |
1985 | Tucson Festival Exhibition | Tucson Art Institute, Tucson, AZ | Group |
1983 | Invitational Exhibition | Central Arts Collective, Tucson, AZ | Group |