Roy De Forest
De Forest's art is known for its quirky and comical fantasy lands filled with bright colors and creatures, most commonly dogs.
Roy De Forest was born in North Platte, Nebraska, to migrant farm workers during the Great Depression.
De Forest's family lost their farm in Nebraska due to the harsh economic conditions during the Great Depression and were forced to move to Yakima, Washington.
Davis, De Forest worked with fellow artists Robert Arneson, Manuel Neri, Wayne Thiebaud and William T. Wiley.
[4] On the occasion of the exhibit, You See: The Early Years of the UC Davis Art Faculty, Renny Pritikin of the Nelson Gallery said, "History was made in the Central Valley in the early '60s when five great artists came together on the same faculty for over a decade and changed the nature and perception of art in California forever.
"[5] De Forest's first exhibition was in 1955, and the work reflected the influence of Abstract Expressionism, along with a developing interest in assemblage.
Beginning in 1960 and continuing throughout the decade De Forest had many one-person shows at San Francisco's Dilexi Gallery, operated by Jim Newman.
[2] De Forest, along with Arneson, Wiley, and David Gilhooly often exhibited together under this heading, including semi-regular shows at the Candy Store Gallery in nearby Folsom, California.
Another important figure in the Funk art movement was Clayton Bailey, who was De Forest's neighbor,[7] friend, and collaborator.
[7] A, perhaps apocryphal, account of the origin of the movement's name exists in an unpublished manuscript titled Basic Art[2] written by self-appointed "Nut chronicler,"[2] David Zack.
By the late 1960s this transformation was nearly complete, as De Forest's work now freely mixed patterns and non-objective elements along with recognizable forms such as people, landscapes, and most notably, animals.
Overall, Roy De Forest is best known for his comic-like patchwork regionalist (California) style, often depicting dogs and other figurative content in his art.
Later, in a deliberate attempt to move away from abstract expressionism, De Forest began using different mixtures of water-based paint.
[12] De Forest lived his latter years in Port Costa, California, surrounded by open land filled with dogs, cattle, and birds.
