K. B. Kueteman

Artwork by K. B. Kueteman

K.B. Kueteman has lived in Oklahoma for nearly 60 years, and started painting approximately 15 years ago. He has won awards and recognition from the Oklahoma Art Guild, twice receiving the honor of Second Place at the Annual Member’s Show. In addition, his art was displayed on the cover of the Oklahoma County Medical Society Journal in 2006, and won the International Anglican Card Contest in 2007. He currently has works displayed at the Contemporary Art Gallery in Oklahoma City and Simply Oklahoma in Guthrie.

The medium of his painting is acrylic on canvas, and his abstract expressionist style was developed out of his profound admiration of the art of Kandinsky, Prendergast, Mary Cassatt, Andrew Wyeth, and Nicolai Fechin. At this period in his artistic career, K.B. portrays Native American customs, culture, and spirituality, and is not limited to any one tribe. All of his works are created using the “alla prima” technique, in which the painting is completed wet on wet in one sitting without a buildup of glazes or layering of colors. This technique is popular for the spontaneity and freshness it entails, and was used widely by Impressionist painters as well as today's “plein air” painters.

“While driving to work, I would pass by several outdoor billboards that were almost always in disrepair. I was fascinated by the various designs and combination of random colors that the unattended billboards created, due to the various overlapping advertisements that had peeled and were affected by the weather. I find that I prefer the earth tones, and that I am most comfortable using a sharp instrument to spread the paint rather than a brush. My works are usually geometrically-oriented and I have found that I prefer a less-cluttered canvas. I rarely approach painting with a particular subject matter in mind. Instead, I am oriented to the colors that are utilized. My painting is very spontaneous, in that I try to follow whatever patterns the colors seem to dictate at the time. For me, it is all about how the colors fall upon the canvas.”

“There should be an immediate sense of satisfaction in viewing the painting. It should grab your attention and pull you in to closer inspection. You should continually discover new aspects each time you view the painting. It has been said that the object of painting is not to produce a work of art, however strange that may sound. The real purpose of painting is to obtain a certain ‘state of being’. The work of art created during that state of being is merely a footprint of the experience, and that is how I approach painting. The footprints are important, but the state of being is essential.”  –K.B. Kueteman