Kevin Barton

In a professional career spanning 23 years, Petoskey based Kevin Barton is one of Michigan’s most well collected contemporary artists with artwork in collections across the nation. Mr. Barton’s art has garnered numerable awards and accolades over the years including the Manoogian Museum’s Gold Medal Award and Signature Member status with the American Impressionist Society. His work has been honored and featured on and in many publications, covers, events and by contest firsts as well as having been showcased in numerous group and solo shows.

Barton is glad to reside in northern Michigan with its wealth of subject matter befitting his tastes and talents with painting.  From the Great Lakes with its boats to its diverse architecture, gardens, townscapes and sunsets, it provides endless opportunities for his artwork. His painting has also taken him to places like Sedona, California, Chicago, New York City (with a group show at the prestigious Amsterdam Whitney Gallery) and most recently to Key West and Naples Florida.
 
ARTIST STATEMENT
 
“It looks just like it … but it doesn’t.”  — Elementary age child on Mackinac Island
 
This was one of those instances where kids say the darndest things. The word “art” means different things to different people and could range from photo realism to abstract expressionism. Yes, Barton enjoys capturing the specific details of a subject, yet he wants people to know they are looking at a “painting.” To look at his style is to see the world made of paint.  The heavily textured and brightly colored paintings that result engage the viewers imagination and uniquely instill in them a sense of participating in something timeless while the sense of loose detail always gives the collector new things to find in a piece. He enjoys plein-air not only for the quality and sensitivity to light it brings, but also for the sense of spontaneity and creative solutions it brings to the process and brush work.

2011 Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum – Gold Medal Winner
2013 & 2016 – Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum – Second Place
2014 – Crooked Tree Arts Center Paint Out – Best of Show
2015 – Crooked Tree Arts Center D’Art for Art – Featured Artist
2015 – Awards Judge for Paint Dexter Plein Air Festival
2016 – Crooked Tree Arts Center Solo Exhibition, Twenty Years in Retrospect
2016 – Awards Judge for Crooked Tree Arts Center Annual Paint Out
2017 – Crooked Tree Arts Center Paint Out – Best Farm Scene
2011, 2012, 2017 & 2018 – Winner Mackinac Island Lilac Festival poster contest
2019 - Paint Grand Traverse "Small Wonders" Best in Show