The Escape Artist
American Art Collector|May 2018

New work by Greg “Craola” Simkins will be on view at KP Projects in Los Angeles.

Joshua Rose
The Escape Artist
 Greg “Craola” Simkins holds on to a “jar full” of childhood memories to draw from whenever he feels the pressures and realities of daily life closing in on him or dragging him down. These memories serve to help rediscover some of his childhood innocence long enough to create a new painting, come up with a character or devise a narrative for his works to follow. Simkins believes so strongly in these moments that he has named his new exhibition The Escape Artist in order to only further connect with these remembrances of times past. 

This story is from the May 2018 edition of American Art Collector.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the May 2018 edition of American Art Collector.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM AMERICAN ART COLLECTORView All
Guardians of the Temple – Simon Dinnerstein reflects on The Fulbright Triptych 50 years later.
American Art Collector

Guardians of the Temple – Simon Dinnerstein reflects on The Fulbright Triptych 50 years later.

The Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State University exhibits Simon Dinnerstein's The Fulbright Triptych haunts the visual lexicon of 20th century American representational art. Fifty years have passed since Dinnerstein completed the painting in 1974.

time-read
9 mins  |
July 2024
A City Perspective
American Art Collector

A City Perspective

Leslie Gaduzo has always been interIested in art. Since childhood, he has been drawing constantly, from single point perspective drawings at age 10 to complex architectural drawings.

time-read
1 min  |
September 2023
Living Legacy
American Art Collector

Living Legacy

The Butler Institue hosts Allied Artists of America's 110th Annual Juried Exhibition.

time-read
1 min  |
September 2023
Elegant yet Approachable
American Art Collector

Elegant yet Approachable

The second edition of the RTIA Show presents even more art to explore and expanded special programming.

time-read
2 mins  |
September 2023
Figuratively Speaking
American Art Collector

Figuratively Speaking

New York has always been an epicenter of artists on the edge of excellence, pushing the envelope and finding their voices.

time-read
2 mins  |
September 2023
JAMES AYERS: The Importance of Play
American Art Collector

JAMES AYERS: The Importance of Play

Like many artists, James Ayers' work took a turn during the Covid-19 pandemic. Seeing the enjoyment his kids took from playing with paint in his studio and exploring their creativity inspired him.

time-read
2 mins  |
September 2023
GINA MINICHINO: Playing with Food
American Art Collector

GINA MINICHINO: Playing with Food

Gina Minichino started her journey in visual arts because of Charles Schulz. \"He was my earliest influence for drawing and the reason I wanted to be a cartoonist,\" she says.

time-read
2 mins  |
September 2023
Island Light
American Art Collector

Island Light

The Cuttyhunk Island Artists' Residency is held in a sprawling, 100-year-old house on an island off the southern coast of Massachusetts.

time-read
2 mins  |
September 2023
Solitary Forms
American Art Collector

Solitary Forms

Hogan Brown has been working with Arcadia Contemporary for two and half years and is excited to be featured in his first solo show at the gallery. He doesn't take for granted the many talented figurative painters Arcadia represents and is thrilled to be among them.

time-read
2 mins  |
September 2023
Living the Dream
American Art Collector

Living the Dream

Counterintuitively, David Gluck was a painter before taking up tattooing little more than a decade ago. While skin is a completely different substrate and ink a far cry from oil paint, the skills must be transferrable to some degree because there is a wait-time of nine months to get an appointment with him.

time-read
2 mins  |
September 2023