Aaron Kraten is a mixed media artist from Costa Mesa, California .
Aaron Kraten was born March 15, 1974, in San Francisco, California. As a child, he moved to Huntington Beach in Southern California. As a teenager, Aaron was very interested in skateboarding and counter culture. After high school, he worked full-time jobs while establishing himself as an artist, taking jobs in factories and working a stint as a courier. He gained recognition in the early 2000s, and subsequently set up a studio in a Costa Mesa loft on the East side.[1][2]
Kraten is a mixed media artist, using found objects such as refrigerator doors and discarded windows to dismantled doghouses and old street signs as well as using nontraditional paint media such as correction fluid. He prefers to use his hands to work directly with the paint, giving a textured quality to the work; it is intriguing to note that brushes are never used in any of his pieces. Aaron is a self-taught artist.
One of his best known paintings is Coast 2007, It was entirely fingerpainted.
Kraten grew up in Huntington Beach, California and spent many of his formative years drawing in 100-page sketchbooks, a practice he continues to this day. In 1999, while Kraten was working as a Vespa motorcycle mechanic, he experimented with painting on found objects. Kraten's first sales emerged after starting to display work in the thrift store, Stateside, at The Lab Anti-Mall where he was employed at the time, and sold a fair amount of it.
Soon after, Kraten began submitting his work to galleries and museums in Southern California. Kraten's work has been shown in museums such as the Laguna Art Museum; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and galleries such as Gallery 23; Gallery C; Seven Degrees; and Subject Matter. Kraten shows about four times a year and posts new work on his website often. Kraten has filled over 58 100-page sketchbooks and created over 350 paintings. In 2019 Aaron Kraten's art was featured in the video game Fortnite by Epic Games. He currently paints full-time.
Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) - Newport Beach, California (group exhibition) "10/10" October 11, 2002
Gallery 23 - Costa Mesa, California (group exhibition) "Dee Dee Ramone" May 12, 2002
The Camp - Costa Mesa, California (group exhibition) "Remix" June 27, 2003
7 degrees - Laguna Beach, California (Solo exhibition) "Latest Works" September 1, 2003
Laguna Art Museum - Laguna Beach, California (group exhibition) "21-art pack" October 13, 2003
Gallery C - Redondo Beach, California (group exhibition) "Nine" July 29 - September 11, 2003
Subject Matter - Costa Mesa, California (group exhibition) "Chapter 10" September 18, 2004
The Kutting Room Gallery - Santa Monica, California (group exhibition) "Fontana Meets Kraten" October 2, 2004
Wax Poetic - Burbank, California (Solo exhibit) "Latest Works" January 22, 2005
Arena Gallery - Huntington Beach, California (Solo exhibit) "Latest Works" November 12, 2005
Wax Poetic - Burbank, California (Solo exhibit) "Latest Works" January 22 - February 22, 2005
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles - (group exhibit) "Fresh" June 4, 2005
Venice Art Walk - Santa Monica, California (group exhibition) "This is Art" May 20, 2006
Subject Matter - Costa Mesa, California (group exhibition) "Collabro" May 20, 2006
Alpha Cult - Long Beach, California (Solo exhibition) "Exhibit A" August 26, 2006
Gallery 1988 - Los Angeles, California (group exhibition) "I am 8bit" April 18 - May 19, 2006
Think Space - Los Angeles, California (group exhibition) "pick of the harvest" September 8, 2006
Alpha Cult - Long Beach, California (Solo exhibition) "Interdirectional" May 12, 2007
Jack Flynn Gallery - Costa Mesa, California (group exhibition) "Urbanism" August 11, 2007
The Pinch Gallery - Costa Mesa, California (group exhibition) "The White Album" August 27, 2007
Alpha Cult - Long Beach, California (group exhibition) "21-art pack" October 13, 2007
Koos Gallery - Long Beach, California (group exhibition) "Pop Music" December 15, 2007
Laguna Art Museum - Laguna Beach, California (group exhibition) "100 Artist" February 9, 2008
The Box Gallery - Costa Mesa, California (solo exhibition) January 12, 2008
Wax Poetic - Burbank, California (Solo exhibit) "Latest Works" March 22, 2008
Swiv Gallery - Oceanside, California (group exhibition) "Keep" November 12, 2008
Project Artist Gallery - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Group exhibition) November 7, 2008
Suite100 Gallery - Seattle, Washington (Group exhibition) November 14, 2009
The Box Gallery - Costa Mesa, California (solo exhibition) January 17, 2009
Halogen Gallery - Seattle, Washington (group exhibition) June 10, 2009
Neue Transit Studio - Santa Ana, California (solo exhibition) June 10, 2009
Neue Transit Studio - Santa Ana, California (solo exhibition) June 10, 2010
Rothick Art Haus - Anaheim, California (group exhibition) "Doll Haus" April 9 - May 7, 2011
Art Wino - Richmond, Virginia (group exhibit) "G40 the Summit" March 1–30, 2012
Museum of Contemporary Art - Los Angeles - (group exhibit) "Fresh" March 24, 2012
Rothick Art Haus - Anaheim, California (group exhibition) "7 Deadly Sins" April 14, 2012
The Brink Gallery - Missoula, Montana (group exhibition) "On Deck" May 2, 2014
Laguna Art Museum - Laguna Beach, California (group exhibit) "California Cool" February 7, 2015
Rivet Gallery - Columbus, Ohio (group exhibition) "Be My Valentine" February 7, 2015
Woot Bear Gallery - San Francisco, California (group exhibit) "Art on Guard" May 29, 2015