Ken Auster

Remembering Ken Auster It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our artist, Ken Auster. In his formative years in Long Beach, California, Ken grew up with his feet deeply planted in surf and sand. Caught up in the ground swell of the 1960s surfing culture, Ken plunged into both the sport and the art and graphics that came out of the new surfing craze. In the 1990s, Ken Auster moved into plein air painting, capturing immediate scenes in a painterly realist manner, but maintaining a strong graphic sensibility from his previous experience. The result was a painterly evocation of cityscapes, landscapes, interiors and, of course, beach scenes that have an uncommon graphic and geometric strength. In his own words, Ken described his art: “I’m really drawn to the irony of what I do. I love that juxtaposition of paintings you recognize from art history with everyday experiences. What I like to do is paint things a little more common, more everyday. They say if you are able to take something ugly and paint it beautifully, then you’ll have a beautiful painting and something a little beyond the obvious or what’s expected.” We will miss working with Ken, and cherish his work that we published.