Heart of the City: A vibrant collection by Kevin West

Growing up as a Boys and Girls Club kid, Kevin West always tries to paint pieces that show inner city children as vibrant, beautiful and colorful. In his most recent series titled, “Heart of the City“ he uses local children and well known landmarks around the city of Indianapolis to show a youthful representation of Indy’s true heart beat.

About the Artist

Kevin Nance West is a professional fine artist, art entrepreneur (and art instructor) in the Indianapolis area, specializing in contemporary abstract paintings and portrait art. Kevin is the founder and CEO of West Innovations, which is responsible for custom ‘paint by number’ technology used to service over one hundred seventy-five sip and paint studios and companies (nationwide) including Storie Brush, Wine and Canvas, and Canvas and Cocktails.

Kevin studied at the Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis prior to exploring business ventures in art. (Early initiatives included teaching art classes at the Boys and Girls Club of Indianapolis and hosting private portrait painting workshops.) With the goal of bringing art to everyone, Kevin launched Gifted Custom Art in 2014. He built out a custom application called Photomatic, the process of creating and scaling custom imagery became automated. For the first time, amateur artists were able to create portraits of their loved ones using the ‘paint by number’ technique. This model was quickly licensed by (paint and sip) affiliates across the country.

(Kevin, a cancer survivor, has not let life’s obstacles stop him. Rather, they have fueled the passion for his craft. His larger than life art is filled with colorful lines of emotion dancing across the canvas.) In his twenty years as a professional artist, Kevin has experimented with a variety of mediums and concepts including mixed media and broken records. His abstract portrait art done with acrylics celebrates figures of pop culture and Black influencers, athletes, and entertainers.

In 2020, Kevin was selected by Indy10 Black Lives Matter and other community groups to help design and implement the Black Lives Matter mural along Indiana Avenue; a street that was once the center of Black life in Indianapolis.

Kevin is currently is focusing on his fine art career. He owns West Fine Art Gallery, Located in Brownsburg,Indiana. His works are also represented by Golden Galleries of Denver, Colorado.

Additional recognitions include:

• 500 Art Festival ‘Young Artist of the Year’
• Meet the Artist: Top 50 Artists of the Decade
• Work featured at the Nationally recognized Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio.
• Work featured at the Nationally recognized Newfields Art Museum, Indianapolis, Indiana

Influential clients include:

• Mike Epps, Comedian
• Warren Buffett, Investor
• Jill Scott, Singer and Actress
• Dwight Howard, Pro Athlete
• Jrue and Lauren Holiday, Pro Athletes
• Reggie Wayne, Pro Athlete
• Gary Brackett, Pro Athlete
• And more ...

Meet the Artist!

2nd Friday Artist Reception 

August 11, 6 - 9 PM