Dan's Cover Artist: Kevin Sloan Explores 'Birds of America'

This week’s cover of Dan’s Papers features “Admit One” by Denver-based painter Kevin Sloan, whose art has been featured at the Hamptons Fine Art Fair, as well as SPARK Art Fair Vienna, Intersect Palm Springs and Intersect Aspen. Here, Sloan discusses the creation of the cover painting, his art career highlights and partnership with the K Contemporary gallery.

A Conversation with Kevin Sloan

How is your “Admit One” representative of the artistic voice and/or the themes explored in your art portfolio?

Kevin Sloan’s painting “Admit One” is a classic example of his ongoing interest in the intersection of the natural world and the world of human-made objects and environments. Rooted in the tradition of representational painting, his work explores narrative possibilities through metaphor and symbolism. Characterized by bemusement and tenderness, “Admit One” is acutely aware of the social and political climate relating to environmental issues yet avoids topical reportage and editorializing. Kevin often uses animals as symbolic representatives to describe his deep concern for the changing natural environment and the threat such changes present to humankind as well as the silent inhabitants we share our world with.

What is one way in which you have developed your art style and/or evolved as an artist since the creation of “Admit One” in 2014?

“Admit One” was created as part of a major exhibit in 2015 at the Fine Arts Center in Colorado Springs, CO which showcased Kevin’s work in conjunction with large scale prints from Audubon’s “Birds of America” series. That body of work focused exclusively on animals, in particular bird imagery based on Audubon’s work, to create a series of highly symbolic and narrative paintings in conversation with Audubon’s work. More recently, his work is using fewer animals and he’s expanded his symbolic language to include more landscape, human-made objects and plants to convey his narratives.

When did your partnership with K Contemporary begin, and at what stage of your career were you at that time?

Kevin began showing with K Contemporary shortly after the opening of the gallery in 2017. Kevin’s one person exhibit, “The Wanderer’s Garden” in 2017 was the second exhibit the gallery presented. At the time Kevin joined the gallery he was solidly established as a “mid-career” artist with a robust resume detailing exhibits nationally as well as numerous pieces placed in notable public and private collections around the world.

What is one of the most impressive accolades or rewarding accomplishments of your career so far?

Aside from exhibiting regularly around the country, in the past few years Kevin has had a couple of significant and highly acclaimed exhibits. His exhibit in 2015 in conjunction with the work of Audubon at the Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs was a significant milestone in his career as he was able to not only create an exhibit in concert with the work of Audubon but was also able to curate the selection of Audubon works from the museum’s collection. More recently, in 2021 Kevin had a major exhibit at the Freyer-Newman Center at the Denver Botanic Gardens. His exhibit, “Radiant Season” reconsidered the genre of botanical painting and focused on the weeds and less glamourous inhabitants of a botanical garden. This exhibit has been one of the most highly attended exhibits to date at the Freyer-Newman Center.

Would you like to share any closing thoughts or additional info about upcoming exhibitions/projects?

Kevin’s work, while retaining a focus on the natural world and our relation to it refuses to “sit still”. He continues to explore how a painting can hold a sense of wonder and veneration while depicting and pointing toward that which is commonly considered mundane or overlooked. Additionally, he has started to explore mixed-media and found object sculpture. We’ll see where that goes! Looking forward, Kevin has been invited to be an Artist in Residence at the University of Wyoming in the fall of 2025 and will have another one-person show at K Contemporary in 2025. Also, in June 2024 Kevin will be featured in the Australian art magazine “Beautiful Bizarre” with an in-depth interview and over 20 reproductions of his work.

To see more of Kevin Sloan’s art, visit kevinsloan.com and kcontemporaryart.com/artist/kevin-sloan.