Critique
“Joseph Kinnebrew might rank among the hardest workers in the art business, but he discounts the ultimate worth of his well-wrought finished objects. They are the carriers of his artistic philosophy which, to put it succinctly, is a celebration of ambiguity. The art of Joseph Kinnebrew is truly more than meets the eye. By design the surfaces and ostensible content of his paintings and sculptures is subversive. Kinnebrew has the right inveigling touch; he is something of a trickster who skillfully disarms the viewer. In always reminding us of the possibility of “something else” or “another way” Joseph Kinnebrew is an unsettling artist. His work is the 800-pound gorilla, impossible to ignore.”
William Zimmer, Senior Art Critic, New York Times, 2005
“This is a vibrant series of personal, transformative, extremely surreal paintings by Joseph Kinnebrew. Known for his extensive work in the field of public art, Kinnebrew has also gained recognition for rich, symbolic, visionary painting, incorporating archetypal symbols and culturally-rich traditions in his work. Kinnebrew’s vision of the world necessitates that metaphor serve as a motive power underlying all images and forms; as a result, recurrent metaphors such as the checkerboard, wings and the color white, all representing process of birth and transformation, appear in his paintings.”
Robert Mahoney, New York City 2005
“Kinnebrew’s canvases, if anything, urge us to admire dreams simply as dreams, and by inference, life as life. Various components of these images may signify various things to various viewers – and various things to Kinnebrew – but what drives Kinnebrew’s work is not what they mean, but how they fall together, how the components conflate incongruously and establish a new reality out of that very incongruity. Sense results from sensation, not from any syntax of symbols.”
Peter Frank, Los Angeles March 2010
“Joseph Kinnebrew is in touch with mysteries, the ancient and unconscious substrata that lies just beneath ordinary life. This inner world, where emotional truth is more real than time and place, is brought into the light of day in the form of his diverse and challenging art.”
John Mendelson, New York 2005
“Surely the birth of intelligent life and magnificent culture is Kinnebrew’s theme, “the crepuscular genius,” in his words, “of a new day.” He is in touch with his ancient artistic predecessors and with his subconscious world: “ this invented momentum,” he writes, “I live, I die, and I am reborn.”
Sue Taylor, Portland State University
“Kinnebrew is an eccentric genius, self-exiled from the hip art world in a luxurious log cabin in Sun Valley Idaho. He and his work do not make sense in the stereotypical views of the modern artist – he is neither obsessed bohemian nor egocentric aesthete, though he possesses something of each…he should be considered and autodidact. There may be uncounted isolated others who serve dual masters of intense personal drive and a vision of art as a community service, but Kinnebrew is arguably among the most successful.”
Michael F. Bulka, Chicago, Illinois