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. thumb

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 (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 The Silver Fern - Cookeville, Tennessee (group exhibit) "The Tiny Show" May 2, 2025