"Ethan Garton's highly wrought works on paper address segments of humanity in opposition to itself. While his worldview is that of a defiant outsider, his works —however bittersweet— are nonetheless compelling because of their outré sensibilities. His exacting markings with barely perceptible lines combined with delicate coloring with all sorts of organic pigments make for compellingly memorable images. Looking deeper, we sense that Paradise is lost. While his Candy Land palette leads us to feel that those whom he depicts are in states of pleasure, they are instead manifestations of psychological nightmares amidst a world of horror, one that Garton suggests is beyond repair. In this sense, he updates the abattoirs of Bosch, Callot, Goya, and Grosz and if there is any way towards salvation, it would be to withdraw completely to a state of being that Thoreau would have averred we take. Labeling Garton an outsider artist would not be far from the mark because the visual world he constructs is entirely his own and relatively untethered —save perhaps to that of surrealism— in which the world of the dream dominates. These are his internal visions, not ours. They are here to witness and behold in all their confounding originality."
-Timothy J. Standring , Gates Foundation Curator of Painting & Sculpture
Ethan Garton is an American painter whose work explores the psychological and environmental tensions of contemporary life. Working across painting, works on paper, sculpture and social practice, he creates images that address themes of war, ecological degradation, and social instability. His compositions often combine landscape with symbolic or narrative elements, producing scenes that invite humor and reflection on the forces shaping the modern world. Over the past two decades, Garton has developed a substantial body of work informed by a contemporary approach to history painting. His work draws inspiration from artists such as Goya, Dix, Daumier, and Grosz, engaging historical and social themes through a modern sensibility. Garton has produced hundreds of works ranging from monumental canvases to intimate works on paper. He has maintained working studios for periods of time in Mexico, Guatemala, India, and New Mexico, experiences that have informed his engagement with landscape, history, and social conditions. Originally from Colorado and now based in Maine, Garton maintains an active studio practice and continues to explore themes of environmental transformation and historical memory.
OpenAI, 2026
