Evidence for Contact: Ken Grimes, 1993-2021
21,000+ Reviews
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Description
A singularly interstellar journey into the work of a visionary figure in outsider art, featuring an introduction by Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI).
The paintings of Ken Grimes are strikingly honest, deceptively simple, and decidedly interstellar. Over several decades, Grimes has developed his singular style--using text, numbers, outer space iconography, and geometric shapes painted primarily in stark black and white--to prompt his audience to consider the possibilities and implications of alien contact with earth. Influenced by the proliferation of sci-fi media in his youth, Grimes has also continued to be moved by popular culture, a motif which intermingles with his interest in outer space in ways both earnest and irreverent. Showcasing art from Grimes's long career, Evidence for Contact catalogs the endless variations on a theme produced by an absolutely unique painter during a lifetime devoted to the mysteries of extraterrestrial life.Product Details
Price
$45.00
$41.85
Publisher
Anthology Editions
Publish Date
October 24, 2023
Pages
216
Dimensions
9.2 X 11.5 X 1.0 inches | 3.25 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9781944860554
BISAC Categories:
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About the Author
Frank Maresca was born and raised in New York City, where he learned about the art scene from an early age. He eventually studied at both FIT and the Pratt Institute. In his early twenties, he worked as a photojournalist for Time and Life magazines, eventually opening his own studio--specializing in fashion and beauty photography.
Ken Grimes is an American artist from Cheshire, Connecticut. Having been interested in extraterrestrial life from a young age, he has dedicated his long career to exploring alien and galactic symbols and imagery. In 2013 he received a Wynn Newhouse Award, and his work is in permanent collections at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, and the American Folk Art Museum, among others.
Seth Shostak is an astronomer from Arlington County, Virginia. Having been interested in space and the possibility of extraterrestrial life from a young age, he received degrees in physics and astrophysics at Princeton and California Institute of Technology. Shostak has contributed to four books, has spent a large portion of his career in public outreach and education, and now serves as a senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, the non-profit research institution dedicated to the study and understanding of life in the universe.
Alejandra Russi is a writer from Bogotá, Colombia. After graduating from Universidad de Los Andes with a B.A. in Literature, she attended Columbia University and received degrees in both Magazine Journalism and in Arts and Culture Journalism. Having worked as a freelance journalist for five years, Alejandra is now the director of media and digital exhibitions at Ricco/Maresca Gallery in New York City.
Reviews
"The work of Ken Grimes is a fantastical premonitory of a possible road art could take, reaching into an uncertain future where looking into the sky in search of alien friends can prove a contemplative but also productive way to engage thoughts about our purpose and place in the universe. The clear, vivid black and white imagery Grimes develops, speaks both the language of hope and excitement about what is yet to come, but also of peace of knowing that this future could be perhaps shared with friends from a galaxy far, far away." - Widewalls, 2023
"Evidence for Contact documents Grimes' never-ending exploration for their existence. Creating his personal mythology using references taken from astronomy, science-fiction iconography and pop culture, Grimes seeks hidden messages to decode how life on our planet is influenced and shaped by such visitors." - PRINT Mag, 2023
"Evidence for Contact moves briskly through Grimes's voluminous output of 21st-century work. A few themes emerge: grids, which he fills with black gesso for landscapes that recall a crossword puzzle's prompt for answers, the fiddly formations of Tetris, and early digital animation; binary code, whose zeroes and ones form both ominous data fields and friendly living figures; and an interest in portraiture that appears less about capturing some "truth" of the subject and more about amassing a community of fellow travelers. Asserting the presence of believers in his paintings is also urgent." - Surface Mag, 2023
"Evidence for Contact documents Grimes' never-ending exploration for their existence. Creating his personal mythology using references taken from astronomy, science-fiction iconography and pop culture, Grimes seeks hidden messages to decode how life on our planet is influenced and shaped by such visitors." - PRINT Mag, 2023
"Evidence for Contact moves briskly through Grimes's voluminous output of 21st-century work. A few themes emerge: grids, which he fills with black gesso for landscapes that recall a crossword puzzle's prompt for answers, the fiddly formations of Tetris, and early digital animation; binary code, whose zeroes and ones form both ominous data fields and friendly living figures; and an interest in portraiture that appears less about capturing some "truth" of the subject and more about amassing a community of fellow travelers. Asserting the presence of believers in his paintings is also urgent." - Surface Mag, 2023
