ROBERT KATONA

Robert Katona is an American artist and innovator of the Flow Painting technique. Born in Ohio in 1947, his family moved to Colorado in 1948. The product of an experiment in child development, a blackboard and chalk were placed next to his crib when he was two years old, and he began to draw. His father, Arthur Katona, a PhD of Sociology, wanted to measure the effects of early exposure to art and learning.

Growing up in a stimulating family, he evolved quickly as an artist and began painting full time after attending the University of Colorado. He first developed a realistic technique by working from old masters and depicting still lifes. While experimenting with abstract art, he discovered flow painting.

His method uses liquid acrylic poured onto canvas, creating a dynamic expanding composition. When the paint is dry, Katona studies the colorfield and looks for shapes and images that suggest a theme. He then paints these visions into the background with startling precision. “I’m looking for magic and transformation,” he says. When viewing the art it may take several minutes, or even several viewings to find the images and overall impact of the work.

Based in New York for seven years, he created a form of computer art, Techism, with colored plexiglass and electronics. He is a falconer and the first artist in North America to paint falconry art.  His knowledge of birds of prey has led to illustration contributions to the Raptor Research Foundation, the Peregrine Fund, and the North American Falconry Association.

Angus Cameron of Alfred Knopf publishing described the pencil drawings for the book, GOLDEN EAGLE COUNTRY, as "stunning and sensationally beautiful." Barbara Haddad of the Denver Post wrote of his "remarkable drawing done with an incredibly sensitive hand."

Elizabeth Exler of Manhattan Arts reviewed COMPUTERWORKS as an "incredibly thought - provoking exhibition, and each work is as fascinating as the next." Ed McCormack of New York Artspeak described TECHISM: Art of the 21st Century as a "dazzling, highly entertaining solo exhibition that creates metaphors for the technological dilemma of computerized civilization."

His versatility as an artist has gained Katona a worldwide reputation, including an award from the Society of Illustrators in New York for his work in GOLDEN EAGLE COUNTRY. His art appears in collections: Willie Nelson, John Denver, former U.S. Senator Gary Hart, The Air Force Academy, and the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia, and in museums: Museum of Art Munich, Taipei Museum of Art, Fine Arts Museum of Long Island N.Y., Museum of Wildlife Art Jackson, Wyoming, and the Biennial in Barcelona, Spain. Katona lives with his wife and two children in Colorado.