Keith Batten

Artist's Bio

Keith Batten’s latest art series, DOORS, has been exhibited in 15 different shows, including two solo exhibitions. One of the works, titled CAR JACKING, recently took first prize in the CCCA 14th Annual Juried Show.

Keith was born in Montreal, Quebec. He first studied art on a highschool scholarship at THE ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO. Later he pursued his dual passion in Visual Art and Theater at Toronto’s YORK UNIVERSITY, achieving an Honours Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

An illustration contest in the New York Times for the Broadway production of BOSOMS AND NEGLECT, which he won, initially brought him to New York City in the early eighties. There he continued his search for style and technique at THE ART STUDENT’S LEAGUE and THE SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS.

Freelance design and illustration soon followed, including his first card design for ROCKSHOTS, a popular greeting card company of that period. This led to a series of portraits of iconic gay writers, including Tennessee Williams, Willa Cather and Herman Melville for the magazine MANDATE. His first book cover was MATLOVICH for Alyson Publishing.

At the same time, his love for theater continued. The festival BROOKLYN BRIDGES THE WORLD at THE BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC afforded him the opportunity of designing the sets and lobbies of all three theaters. Innovative and original poster designs for AMAS REPERTORY THEATER, THE AMERICAN SHAW FESTIVAL, and THE CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY quickly ensued. He even designed the famous top hat cake for A CHORUS LINE when it became the longest running show in Broadway history!

In the early nineties, he advanced tocorporate illustration for DESIGN ETC. in the HASBRO Showroom at the NEW YORK TOY FAIR, drawing large scale portraits for leading toy exhibitors such as MAXIE, PLAYSKOOL, and DRESSING PRETTY. The success of these endeavors lead him to do life size drawings for PLAYSKOOL in The HASBRO showroom in London, England.

A decade of theater work as a producer and director, traveling worldwide setting up new productions, gave him the opportunity to live and work intimately with other artists in foreign cultures in over twelve countries around the world.

Since then Keith has been creating his new series, DOORS, drawing with colored pencils on old wooden doors and other found objects, working in a nineteenth century stable in upstate New York. He is combining his theatrical experience with his visual art for the first time, for both have always been working simultaneously for him.

“I like to ‘draw into’ the surfaces of these old objects, rather than ‘paint over’ them. I try to ‘draw out’ their hidden dramas and reveal their layers of history.”