SOLO EXHIBITION
SOLO EXHIBITION
SOLO EXHIBITION
The World's Leading Contemporary Fine Art Gallery
_PNG.png){kind=small}
The World's Leading Contemporary Fine Art Gallery
Keith
Josiah
UNITED STATES
_p.png)
“I use color and shapes to express and bring my imagination to life.”
Keith Josiah, born March 26, 1997, is a 24-year-old painter, poet, and rap artist from Memphis, TN. Growing up Keith was heavily impacted by the culture of his city, often walking through downtown Memphis listening to the music that the city is known for.
I created this painting when I was younger, and I started to realize my destiny. No one goes through hardships for no reason. The way you react and rebound from it makes you who you are. I don’t believe my destiny in life is to find happiness, my destiny in life is to help others find theirs. People always ask me “What makes you happy?” and usually get frustrated when I respond “Seeing other people happy!” it's my destiny. This piece is accompanied by a poem I wrote in high school.
Growing up on hip-hop, rock-n-roll, gospel, country, and blues, Keith Josiah’s main goal in life is to impact lives around the world. His art is the self-expression that he uses to impact people by provoking self-reflection and has already exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, Fort Worth, TX, and Grayling, MI so far.
This piece represents a common principle and mentality that I tend to carry. Those who we deem evil are usually misunderstood, misinformed, and or misguided. Many of us are hurting and damaged, and it's causing the heart of mankind to react irrationally. So in my eyes the opposite of “good' is not "evil." The opposite of “good” is "damaged". This two-panel piece was done on an old t-shirt, at a time, when I couldn't afford better materials and then later stretched it over two canvases.
Throughout his life, Josiah has been fascinated with colors. Growing up, his father was absent, and his mother worked several jobs. Using art as an escape, Keith would often come up with imaginary friends and draw them out and give them their own back story.
“I was intrigued to hear new things which have been infused in my creativity for painting.”
With his grandfather working with furniture, Keith’s creativity would be sparked by the raw materials of his grandfather’s workshop. Struggling with his confidence, he only recently began to call himself an artist, hiding his talent from most people, including his family who wanted him to go to college for business.
“When the pandemic hit, I didn't have money but I used to paint on anything I could. That's why I got in so much trouble when I was little.”
Being an impulsive artist, Keith often uses raw materials for his art. T-shirts, old wood cutouts, bedsheets, and old furniture are all materials that the artist has used in his works. But it does not stop there. He also uses coffee gesso glue and different juices to provoke a particular color or texture that he sees in his mind to create his pieces.
This was my first Jean-Michael Basquiat-inspired piece. After wanting to take a trip through history I simply wanted to highlight the different facets of black figures throughout American history. Some of these people were given a platform and used it to speak and represent their people’s struggles. While others created and enhanced a platform for the same mission and vision. The two faces represent these two different aspects. Each of these newspapers is 100% authentic.
“It seems good to stand out at first until you want to work with curators and galleries and try to get artist grants and everybody says this is amazing but not exactly what I was looking for.”
This piece is an abstract portrait of my late great-grandmother. The three arms and hands represent cradling and holding on to me, my mother, and my grandfather.
Keith says different sounds provoke different shapes and colors in his mind which he uses to make his works. With that, his works share vibrant colors and raw techniques, which are prominent throughout his art.
When you feel alone misused, and abandoned, you become trapped in your own thoughts. You start to believe that maybe the world is better off without you, but these are not your biggest battles. Your biggest battle is trying to pretend that everything is okay until you are in the confines of your own home, alone again. What's worse is when you believe that you’re doing a good job of hiding it while some can still see your pain through your eyes.
Keith Josiah believes that his biggest struggle with art is adjusting himself to the industry. He often feels like his art just doesn’t fit in with what people consider to be "art" these days. He believes that the art industry doesn’t create a thriving environment for young artists to progress and succeed.
My insecurities have held me back almost all my life. Yet in recent years it has seemed as if life has pushed me into a corner to where I have no choice but to show the world the gifts and talents God has given me. I'm under pressure from my own destiny and it's cracking me; exposing every emotion, thought, feeling, idea, expression, perception, voice, and opinion that I have for so long tried to hide. Now I can’t hide it anymore, it’s all I see, it’s all I feel, it's all I taste, it's all I hear,
The biggest adjustment for him seems to be wanting to make an impact more than wanting to make money. He wants kids to take field trips to see his work. He wishes to be the next Basquiat someday.
I’ve always struggled to stay focused. My mind never stops running with thoughts, pictures, outlooks, perceptions, etc. Because of this, I’ve had a hard time excelling academically but I never wanted to accept that it was my own mind that was holding me back. This piece was an embodiment of my acceptance that this is a struggle. I am not dumb, I'm not stupid, I'm not unteachable, it's just a struggle. I use this medley of figures, faces, and shapes to represent my never-ending thoughts.
“I love and appreciate the idea of people wanting to buy my art, but I want to be in museums.”
Another piece I've recently finished was created during a rough period. One thing that has been a major struggle in my life is letting the tragedies that happen around the world and in the past affect me as if they happened to me personally. In this piece, I have written a personal note to one of my biggest inspirations where I address my desire to talk to him and how I wish I could have saved him and made him feel less lonely, which I sincerely believe is the demise of a lot of artists like myself.
Keith plans on using his work to make change; currently, he is planning on using the money he makes in artist grants to partner with Nike, sending thousands of dollars worth of clothes and school supplies to kids in Sierra Leone
Anatomy of the Angel speaks in figurative language, personifying imaginary creatures by giving them an in-depth anatomical break. Anatomy of the Angel shows my obsession with the concept of angels and what they mean to people, their stories, and their depictions.
His mother Andrea Sawyer and grandfather Andrew Jones heavily influenced his love for art through music. He hopes to one day make Forbes 30 under 30. His mama always talks about Forbes. He has asked her to just wait and watch until he makes it to Forbes one day!
Damaged Rose is a depiction from a poem I wrote about someone who has been so hurt in the past, that they refuse to let someone love them and possibly bring out the best parts of them.