Aaron Kraten
Aaron Kraten is a mixed media artist from Costa Mesa, California.
Early life
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.
Work
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.
History
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.
Past exhibitions
Orange County Museum of Art - Newport Beach, California "10/10" October 11, 2002Gallery 23 - Costa Mesa, California "Dee Dee Ramone" May 12, 2002The Camp - Costa Mesa, California "Remix" June 27, 20037 degrees - Laguna Beach, California "Latest Works" September 1, 2003Laguna Art Museum - Laguna Beach, California "21-art pack" October 13, 2003Gallery C - Redondo Beach, California "Nine" July 29 - September 11, 2003Subject Matter - Costa Mesa, California "Chapter 10" September 18, 2004The Kutting Room Gallery - Santa Monica, California "Fontana Meets Kraten" October 2, 2004Wax Poetic - Burbank, California "Latest Works" January 22, 2005Arena Gallery - Huntington Beach, California "Latest Works" November 12, 2005Wax Poetic - Burbank, California "Latest Works" January 22 - February 22, 2005Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles - "Fresh" June 4, 2005Venice Art Walk - Santa Monica, California "This is Art" May 20, 2006Subject Matter - Costa Mesa, California "Collabro" May 20, 2006Alpha Cult - Long Beach, California "Exhibit A" August 26, 2006Gallery 1988 - Los Angeles, California "I am 8bit" April 18 - May 19, 2006Think Space - Los Angeles, California "pick of the harvest" September 8, 2006Alpha Cult - Long Beach, California "Interdirectional" May 12, 2007Jack Flynn Gallery - Costa Mesa, California "Urbanism" August 11, 2007The Pinch Gallery - Costa Mesa, California "The White Album" August 27, 2007Alpha Cult - Long Beach, California "21-art pack" October 13, 2007Koos Gallery - Long Beach, California "Pop Music" December 15, 2007Laguna Art Museum - Laguna Beach, California "100 Artist" February 9, 2008The Box Gallery - Costa Mesa, California January 12, 2008Wax Poetic - Burbank, California "Latest Works" March 22, 2008Swiv Gallery - Oceanside, California "Keep" November 12, 2008Project Artist Gallery - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania November 7, 2008Suite100 Gallery - Seattle, Washington November 14, 2009The Box Gallery - Costa Mesa, California January 17, 2009Halogen Gallery - Seattle, Washington June 10, 2009Neue Transit Studio - Santa Ana, California June 10, 2009Neue Transit Studio - Santa Ana, California June 10, 2010Rothick Art Haus - Anaheim, California "Doll Haus" April 9 - May 7, 2011Art Wino - Richmond, Virginia "G40 the Summit" March 1–30, 2012Museum of Contemporary Art - Los Angeles - "Fresh" March 24, 2012Rothick Art Haus - Anaheim, California "7 Deadly Sins" April 14, 2012The Brink Gallery - Missoula, Montana "On Deck" May 2, 2014Laguna Art Museum - Laguna Beach, California "California Cool" February 7, 2015Rivet Gallery - Columbus, Ohio "Be My Valentine" February 7, 2015Woot Bear Gallery - San Francisco, California "Art on Guard" May 29, 2015The Silver Fern - Cookeville, Tennessee "The Tiny Show" May 2, 2025