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Ken Auster
(American b. 1949 - 2016)
A native Californian, Ken Auster grew up with his feet planted in the
surfing culture. While working his way towards a Bachelor of Fine Arts
degree from Long Beach State University, he built one of the world’s
most prominent silkscreen and t-shirt companies, creating now legendary
surfing art. His surfing images became the “fine art” of this beach
culture.
In the mid 1990’s Ken moved to a more serious art level, involving him
with the immediacy of oil paints, as opposed to the process-burdened
medium of printmaking. Throwing himself into the splendor of “plein
air” (on location) painting. Ken discovered the richness and broad
colors of the city life he had long avoided. He rejoiced in this new
found ability to paint anything and everything- cafes, bars, train
stations, airports, street scenes, and of course, never far away, was
the beach, his first love.
The transition from surf art to serious impressionism was natural for
Ken. His passion and obsession to reach a new understanding between him
and the oil painting medium took on a new intensity of discovery. “I
simply want to achieve the ultimate communication on the canvas-to say
more with less.” Ken would say.
This came through with his deft use of color, his economies of brush
strokes, and his simple, yet beautifully structured compositions. As
one famous critic described “each painting captures a moment in time
charged with a hint of a narrative drama. And each is rendered with
vibrant immediacy that a single glance excites other senses as well.”
Ken described himself as a painter of his surroundings that communicates
and documents the reality of our times, the edge between nature and man
made, the vitality of the city and everyday occurrences that we take for
granted.
In a
relatively short time since his transition to plein air painting, Ken
Auster moved to the forefront of American contemporary impressionists.
He consistently walked away with gold medals and first place awards at
juried exhibits. His work has been in museum exhibits at the Haggin
Museum in Stockton, Colorado History Museum in Denver, CO, Laguna Art
Museum in Laguna Beach, CA, the Bakersfield Museum in Bakersfield, CA,
Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach, CA and the Texas Museum of
Art in Corpus Christi, TX. He has been featured in magazines such as
Art & Antiques, Southwest Art, and articles about Ken have appeared in
Art Talk, Los Angeles Times, Surfers Journal, and the Orange County
Register. His work is collected by some of the most respected
galleries, corporations and patrons worldwide. Auster was a signature
member of the Plein Air Painters of America, a founding member of the
Laguna Plein Air Painters Association, and a signature member of the
California Art Club. Ken’s passion for painting was shared with
hundreds of students who travel from around the world to attend his
workshops. He passed away in 2016, but his work lives on.
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