by Dan Perkins

He calls himself as a neo-pop artist, but if you listen to Ed King discuss the meaning of his art, you are likely to call him "Talented and Smart."  That's the impression King often leaves when he describes how he incorporates into his art his fascination with science, math, nature and human cognition.

King takes pleasure in examining such complex subject matter through the eyes of a child.  His paintings, which are brightly colored and technically sophisticated, have a distinct quality that appeals to both children and adults. 

While the images in King's paintings are accessible to most people, understanding their meaning requires a bit more work.  A dominant figure in many of his paintings is a melancholy little girl named Liah, who King says represents humanity.  King often situates Liah in fanciful worlds, filled with whimsical characters that have complicated meanings and story-book cities that represent human development. 

Two of the paintings developed for the Collabo exhibit feature Liah revealing important truths.  The paintings are part of a series entitled PARADIGM LOST, which is a play on the famous book entitled PARADISE LOST. In one painting, Liah is pulling a curtain back to reveal a bannered city. In another, she' is looking at a colorful universe seen through an opening in a brightly colored sky.  

While King enjoys putting many codes into his work - codes that are intended to help the viewer decode reality - he also welcomes opportunities to explain his work.  King was delighted to sit with  diversityinbusiness.com and discuss his work along with his experiences as an artist-entrepreneur.  To see excerpts from that interview, click on the link below.  To see more of his work, which he markets under the moniker, Kaleidoscope Conspiracy, visit www.kaleidoscopeconspiracy.com.

dibVIDEO: diversityinbusiness.com talks with Collabo Artist ED KING

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