When one looks at the work of some artists, there is an immediate emotional connection, one that draws you in beyond the brush strokes visible on the canvas. One wonders about the mind of the artist who creates such moving images. In our need to understand those images, we look for correlations in the life of the artist himself. Sometimes that search leads us to discover an artist who is even more intriguing than the work he creates. Kevin Hipe is one of those rare individuals. There is an almost symbiotic relationship between Kevin and the images he creates; it is as though art and artist each draw sustenance from the creation process, and it is impossible to separate one from the other. Part One – the Artist 
Kevin Hipe with an assemblage piece entitled "A Mother's Heart" dedicated to the memory of his mother.
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Kevin Hipe was born in Boston in 1944, and raised during an era of great turmoil and social change. A young man on the streets of that city found companionship and acceptance by joining one of the neighborhood gangs. Gangs of that time were not the spawn of violence that they are today, but abounded with energy that sought outlet in childish pranks and acts of mischief. By the time he graduated from high school, the Vietnam War was raging, women were burning their bras for equality, and dissatisfaction with the government had blossomed into protests and acts of civil disobedience. Turned down by the Draft Board, he did what all young people do, found a job to support himself and struck out on his own. Working the waters of Boston Harbor as a fishing boat captain, he settled into a life that was comfortable, but left him asking the age old question "is this all there is?" He began dating a young art student who introduced him to her friends and fellow students, and suddenly a whole new world opened up in front of his eyes. These people read books that boggled the mind with their ideas. They talked of light and shadow, form and figure, and used a hundred other words he had no knowledge of. They sat up late into the night exchanging views on the social and moral climate of the world. They were filled with a kinetic energy and a hunger for knowledge that was infectious. He was enthralled.
School had never been more than a required annoyance for Kevin before, but now it drew him like a magnet. Finally the void he had felt inside himself was being filled with marvelous images and words, and he developed an insatiable hunger for learning. He applied to the Boston Museum School, but was not accepted for their regular academic enrollment. Unfazed, he took a special summer class that would offer the top few students the opportunity to be placed in the regular curriculum in the fall. He excelled, and won one of those coveted placements. He graduated from the Boston Museum School in 1970 where he majored in Painting and Photography.
The years following graduation were filled with the day–to-day struggle that most artists must face, how to making a living, and yet still have time to create new works. Kevin took jobs driving a taxi, as a plumber, and as a tour boat Captain. He went back to the Boston Museum School to complete their graduate program and won the Clarissa Bartlett Traveling Fellowship in Painting. He taught classes at the Museum School. Life began to settle into a comfortable pattern once more.
His free time was filled by his interest in photography, and he roved the streets shooting the times and people around him. Boston was a whirlwind of activity then, with war protests, public speeches, writers, poets and artists, all clamoring to be heard. Kevin discovered Ginsberg and Abby Hoffman, listened to Nixon pontificating, and shot roll after roll of photos capturing the restlessness of the times. With a group of people as horrified by the ravages of the Vietnam conflict as he himself was, he helped start an anti-war poster factory. It was also the time when he met a woman as independent, socially conscious, and artistically inclined as himself, his wife Connie Nelson.
Following a fire in 1978 that wiped out his studio and home, he and Connie began the journey that would bring them here to Cedar Key. Their original destination had been Sanibel, where they heard there was a budding artist's enclave. During a stopover in Crystal River they met a man who told them about Cedar Key, and they decided to come and see the area. Connie instantly fell in love with the natural beauty of the island, and Kevin felt it would make a nice spot to set up camp for a while. They have been here ever since.
Kevin did work for the Artist in Residence Program, documenting in paintings and photographs the social, physical and economic changes that were occurring in Levy County. Both he and Connie taught art classes for children in a small studio above the old firehouse, while continuing to create new works of their own. In 1985 they opened the Suwannee Triangle Gallery on Dock Street, a showcase of their work and that of other gifted artists.
All the experiences of his life are reflected in the art that Kevin creates. Working in several mediums, (oil on canvas, collage and assemblage) his pieces are thought provoking and distinctive.
Next week we will introduce you to the stirring work of Kevin Hipe, and the motivations behind his art. |
