AAGH/Aporia 2012 Senior Thesis Show

Photos from my undergrad group thesis show AAGH/Aporia. Full detailed photos of the work are available at the Aagh-Imagination Helpers document page http://imaginationhelpers.blogspot.com/ 

2012

Rush Radwany(right), Keegan McGee(left)

Artist Coffee Cups

A collaborative project I did with a graphic designer Nick D'Amico who's goal was to create a hip new line of products intended for use by artists. Nick D'Amico's Behance page http://www.behance.net/nickdamico     

Resume

Keegan McGee-Moore

29520 Stanley Rd. New Marshfield, Ohio, 45766

Cell: 740-331-1274

email: km286308@ohio.edu

EDUCATION

2012 B.F.A.  Painting, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio

1994-2008    Home School

JOB EXPERIENCE

2010-2012 Dish room & fast food employee of West 82 in the Baker Center,   

              Athens, Ohio

2004-2009 Office Assistant at F.A.A.S., Athens, Ohio Position required filing work,  

              customer interaction, and random office grunt work.

              Athens, Ohio

GRANTS/FELLOWSHIPS/AWARDS

2011    Undergraduate Art Show, Margaret Brown Krecker prize in arts award,   

             Ohio University, Ohio

             Awarded by Associate Dean of the College of Fine Arts Chuck McWeeny     

             for my painting "Give and Take"

2010    Ohio University Undergraduate Art Show, Juror's Award, Ohio University,      

             Ohio

             Awarded by Chief Curator of the Columbus Museum of Art Catherine Evans       

             for my piece "Am I A Monster"

2002    Appalachian Ohio Peace Prize, Athens, Ohio

             Awarded for work submitted into the Ohio Peace Prize where I    

             competed agains grades 6-12 to create a peace flag logo.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS 

2012    Baker Center Trisolini Gallery, Undergraduate Thesis Exhibition "Aporia/

             AAGH",

             Athens, Ohio

             Salon Rue de la Court, Student juried art show held at Juror's apartment/   

             gallery, endorsed by Rascal Magazine, 

             Athens, Ohio

             Seigfred Art Gallery, "Undergraduate Art Show", 

             Athens, Ohio

             Cube 4 Gallery, "Feast Your Eyes" art exhibition,                                                       

             Athens, Ohio

2011    83Gallery, untitled group show,                                                                                     

             Columbus, Ohio

             Seigfred Art Gallery, "Undergraduate Art Show", 

             Athens, Ohio

2010    Cranky Yellow Gallery, "Drawgasmic", 

             Saint Louis, Missouri

             Seigfred Art Gallery, "Undergraduate Art Show", 

             Athens, Ohio

             83Gallery, "Short North Gallery Hop", 

             Columbus, Ohio

RELATED EXPERIENCE

2012    Athens Print Guild, Work displayed for sale through the Athens Print Guild   

             print sale.

2011    Boffing Cups, East Elementary School, Athens, Ohio

             Performance involving play combat and ceramic sculpture in the East    

             Elementary Playground.

2011    Artist's Coffee Cups, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio

             collaborative art project with graphic design student for project titled Artists   

             Coffee Cups, included 10 of my cup designs.

2011    Gallery set up assistant, Volunteered at Seigfred Art Gallery preparing the  

             2011 undergraduate art show for opening day, hanging paintings,  

             cleaning, and organization, Athens, Ohio

2010-2012   Vice President, Undergraduate Art League, Ohio University, Athens,   

             Ohio

             Duties as vice president included poster making, event organization,  

             advice for lower clansmen on projects and other school related things.

2011   Experience the Art Day, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio

             school funded event held for potential undergraduates in the fine arts     

             program, some of my images were presented in a slide-show.

2010    Japanese Graphic Design Exchange Program Project, Ohio University,   

             Athens, Ohio

             Project included a week long program were Ohio University students were    

             teamed up with Chubu University exchange students from Japan to design 

             a store and advertisements.

2010    Drawgasmic Book, painting titled "Dr. Funk" was an image included in      

             the independently produced Drawgasmic book.

2010    Keegan McGee's Monster Self Defense Seminar, Ohio University,       

             Athens, Ohio

             One night performance event invoking audience participation.

2005    Grid Lab Volunteer, video game research and arcade center, Athens, Ohio

             Duties as Grid Lab volunteer included logo design, video game and video    

             game console trouble shooting and set up.

COLLECTIONS

             Work titled "Boners" included in 83Gallery's private collection, Ohio

             Work titled "Apocalypse Babes" included in Brian Menze's private    

             collection, California 

Artist Statement

  Keegan McGee-Moore/ Artist Statement 

    The work I create focuses mostly on asking people to see the world in a different way. Imagining myself as an archetypal medieval fantasy hero, I can have fun doing tasks I don't really want to do and look back at how funny everything in life really is. I align myself with fantasy illustrators and low brow artists. I'm interested in ways my work can function in regard to relational aesthetics. Jim Henson, video game, and role playing game art are heavy influences on my visual style in regard to character design.  Video games are also a very large part of my visual language because of the sinology of objects within a story that are used to create specific stories for different archetypal characters. I look to the punk and metal music movements, which share ideas with my work about individuality, anti-establishment, and anti-utopian ideals. Conceptually, my work is inspired by the idea of fantasy where you can live out events in a fictional person's shoes. The idea of fantasy was created taking elements from role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons and other fantasy video games. 

A very tiny triptych

Title says it all, biggest piece of the set is only 12"by12." Watercolor and ink on paper then glazed the crap out of, 2010

Am I A Monster part 2

My revised "Am I A Monster" piece, I liked the concept so I went back a couple years later and did it again. Watercolor, ink, and Crayola Marker on paper and used canvas, 16"x20", 2011.

Summer Paintings

I kept myself busy over summer painting these little 6"x6" watercolor paintings, 2011.

 

Death Face

My favorite print that was accepted along with three other designs of mine for the Inkahoots printing event, held every year by the printmaking students at Ohio University. Sadly this design was not as popular as my others but it is my personal favorite. Included are the Low Brow 3"x6" screenprint and the original drawing, 2010. Inkahoots' Facebook Page

Apocalypse Babes

Here's my first commission, a video game artist named Brian Menze asked me to do an apocalypse themed work that he could put in his office. Brian Menze has worked on games like Fallout, where he did all of the "Pip Boy" illustrations. Apocalypse Babes is 8.5"x11" watercolor and ink on a paper and found wood base, 2009. Brian Menze info on Giantbomb.com

Monster Smackers

Some of the play medieval weapons that I crafted to have wailed upon me in my last performance. I've been fascinated by the humorous and cathartic effect beating someone with big padded weapons can have. In my performance I acted out peoples problems as a monster, one student had art school and I was a three headed dragon that stomped on your dreams and wanted you money. It was kind of like a trip to the psychologist for some people, they laughed and felt better about the stuff that they had to deal with. These are made out of lightweight PVC piping and PVC insulation wrapped in duct tape and decorated with acrylic paint. The images were a visual language that I was developing where each symbol represents a trait, like strength or wisdom, to help people deal with their problems.

Conceptual Ceramics

My first ceramic project of the year. My accomplices were my sister and fiance. Based off of the concept of picking five verbs and finding a way to create conceptual explorative work four times for each one. I was interested in ceramics and it's relation to the body. The verbs that I picked were dry, stab, dig, slap, and throw.

Undergraduate Art Show 2011

My piece, "Give and Take," displayed at the Undergraduate Art Show. From the 2011 Undergraduate Art Show, there were 211 art works submitted and only 70 works accepted.

How the piece was first intended to be displayed.

"Give and Take," watercolor, ink, and marker on paper mounted on found wood.

Monster Portraits

Monster self portraits from a series of seven self portraits of different aspects of my personality illustrated  as monsters.

"Monster Self Portraits," watercolor on illustration board 18"x24"each, 2010.

Autobiography

   I've been drawing since I could hold a pen. My subjects have always been violent, dinosaurs, vampires, imaginary monsters from imaginary worlds. Drawing was always just a thing to do until I turned ten and moved to California where we lived in the suburbs surrounded by other kids. Pokemon was popular and so I wanted to play but it never crossed my mind to purchase the actual game cards, so I found collectors magazines and copied the cards. I drew all the rarest Pokemon for my deck, on cut up cereal boxes and used office supplies. Drawing Pokemon threw me into a frenzy, I wanted to create my own world so I came up with my own card games that I illustrated. When I was 15 I wanted to be a video game designer so I started to copy Star Wars concept art, fantasy art, and even more collectible cards. Going to college started me off in a whole other direction, I wasn't interested in the digital, the intangible worlds of fantasy, I wanted to bring my imaginary world into this one. The art I create is so inspired by video games and role playing culture because they are artifacts to me that bring the imaginary into the real, but I want to take their ideas further and create a new level of experience with the viewer.

   Right now, I am trying to advance the field of the imaginary, the same thing that fantasy artists have been doing since fantasy art existed as it's own entity outside of religious art and fables. I want to use the experience of being someone else, that video games and role playing games can do so well, to bring a new way of looking at life to people who experience my art. Mixing performance, painting, and medieval play weapons people will know what it is to be Keegan McGee.

83Gallery Show

Some of my pieces showed at an 83Gallery gallery hop show in the fall of 2010 in Columbus Ohio on the short north art gallery district. 83Gallery is curated by Geoff Collins. 83Gallery Home Page

Drawgasmic Images

Images submitted to the Drawgasmic art show in 2010 held in the Cranky Yellow Gallery in Montana. The selected pieces were printed into a book, only one of these pieces was selected. All of these work are untitled watercolor, ink, and marker illustrations, 8.5"x11." Drawgasmic Home Page

This piece was the work selected to be shown in the Drawgasmic art show.

Undergraduate Art Show 2010

Images from my first show at the Undergraduate Art Show in the Ohio University Seigfred Gallery. My piece titled "Am I A Monster" was awarded the Juror's award by Catherine Evans, chief curator of the Columbus Museum of Art.  Columbus Museum of Art Home Page

"Monster City", 2010, Sharpie Markers and Watercolor on paper, mounted on found wood, 2'x5', 2010

Close-up

"Am I A Monster" 2010, Crayola and Sharpie markers on paper, mounted on found wood, 24"x24," 2010

Images From My Studio