Kevin Arnold is a painter from Arkansas and a 2010 MFA grad from the Rhode Island School of Design.
Furniture and everyday objects have been painted by artists for centuries, however usually as a background component of a room or as supplement to the main subject of a painting. Of course some exceptions have come along throughout the years, Van Gogh had an affinity for chairs, Andy Warhol loved his Campbell’s Soup Cans/Boxes, etc.
Kevin Arnold pushes the barriers of still life and the use of everyday objects in painting by:
Using common industrial objects as the main subject, painting the subjects realistically, making his canvases/paintings life-sized and last but not least, hanging, posing, or assembling his artworks in a true-to-life manner. I especially like how the Economy Folding Table leans against the wall so naturally. I’d love to come across this painting unexpectedly, walk by it casually, and then have the need to do a double-take and observe it more closely.
