Fresno, CA A Sense of Place, March 1-31
This story was featured in the March/April 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art March/April 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
THERE’S VIRTUALLY no better place than California’s San Joaquin Valley for a show featuring the work of artists and painting pals Daniel Keys and Adam Longatti. To begin with, both painters were born in the area and remain firmly rooted there today. It’s also rather symbolic that, amid one of the most prolific agricultural regions in the world, each artist should focus on subjects that epitomize growth and cultivation—Keys through his painterly florals; Longatti through his vast, agrarian landscapes. The friends’ show, which features around 40 oils, opens at A Sense of Place Fine Art in Fresno, CA, on Friday, March 1. An artists’ reception is held from 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 9, and includes a sale by draw for one of Keys’ major florals.
Keys and Longatti have been painting together on a regular basis ever since they were introduced a few years ago. It’s a fitting arrangement for the pair, who both paint alla prima and often from life. Longatti’s two young children have even modeled for Keys, a widely respected artist who garnered the grand prize in the Portrait Society of America’s 2018 international competition for one of those portraits. A similar portrait appears in this show, though most of his pieces are florals, a subject that has inspired the Fresno native since he began painting more than a decade ago. “Even if I wasn’t painting, I still love growing things—flowers, gardening—all of that is an important interest in my life,” Keys says.
A fourth-generation resident of the San Joaquin Valley, Longatti creates work that is profoundly shaped by his familial ties to the farmland around him. Earth and sky feature prominently in his paintings, calling to mind the works of artists like Maynard Dixon and Russell Chatham. “I love the geometry of the land here—the row planting and the absolute efficiency of it,” says Longatti. “You see beauty, but you also see farmers wanting to make a profit. I keep finding new things to explore. Nature exists in these spaces, but it’s hidden.”
The two-man show marks the friends’ first exhibition together and Keys’ first show in California. “I believe in going out and seeing the world, figuring out who you are, and then taking that back home,” says Keys. “You can gain strength from your roots and grow where you are planted.” —Kim Agricola
contact information559.392.6775www.asenseofplacefineart.com
This story was featured in the March/April 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art March/April 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
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