Kate Renee
Up-and-coming, pop culture artist Kate Renee's work seems pretty cute at first glance, but you'll also notice some edginess to her art when you take a closer look.
She says she's been creative since she was just a kid, and she still draws inspiration from the movies, books and characters that colored her childhood.
"Lately, I have been working on my Beauties Behaving Badly series where I depict misbehaving Disney princesses and other literature and pop culture female characters," she says.
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Renee describes her art as "lowbrow." However, her paintings certainly don't reflect the literal definition of the word. Lowbrow is actually an underground artistic movement, which came out of Los Angeles in the 1970s. It is also known as pop surrealism.
She has been working with acrylics to create her flat, bold-colored character paintings since 2008. Lately, she's been using flat wooden panels as a canvas.
While her artwork appears somewhat simplistic, Renee also hopes to capture the complexities of human nature.
"By juxtaposing anthropomorphic objects, food, and animals, I invite my viewers into the piece through childlike sophistication," she explains in her artist statement.
Kate Renee has become very involved with the arts community in the Minneapolis area - where she lives and works. After graduating with degrees in Fine Arts and Art History from the University of Minnesota, she has worked at a variety of local galleries and art institutes.
As a young artist, her recognizable style is quickly gaining a reputation. She's held exhibitions around the country as well as in Japan.
In addition to painting, Kate draws, practices the craft of book binding and makes unique jewelry. She also runs a popular art blog called The Suction Cup where she writes about her work.
Find out more about this artist when you visit katerenee.com. That's where you can see more of her artwork and order other merchandise Kate has created.
