Kim Douglas Wiggins (born April 8, 1959) is an American painter and sculptor best known for his expressionist landscapes and historical imagery of the American West. His work was recently seen in November 2007[1] in a solo exhibition at Altermann Galleries in New York City, as well as numerous exhibitions at the Autry National Center[2] in Los Angeles. Additionally, a collection of Wiggins's work depicting the history of California has been exhibited at the Staples Center in Los Angeles since opening in 1999.[3]
Kim Wiggins was raised on a ranch in southern New Mexico[4] and began his art career sculpting miniatures of the wildlife around him.[5] In 1985 Wiggins was admitted as the youngest member of a national American impressionists society.[6] His father, Walt Wiggins, was a noted writer and photojournalist who traveled the world on assignment for major magazines like Sports Illustrated, Argosy and Look.[7] Wiggins draws upon Postimpressionism, Expressionism, American Regionalism,[8]muralist folk art traditions, and it is this union that makes his paintings truly unique and unexpected.[9] This collection of Wiggins's work is used as the backdrop for many of the backstage interviews at the Grammys which are held yearly at the Staples Center.[10][11]
Wiggins exhibits yearly at the Masters of the American West[25] show held at the Autry National Center in Los Angeles, CA. His work is included in the permanent collections of the Museum of New Mexico, the Anschutz collection, Denver, CO; the Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA; the Booth Western Art Museum, Cartersville, GA; and the Autry National Center,[26] Los Angeles, CA. His work was recently included in Painters and the American West, an exhibition that traveled from the Denver Art Museum to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, The Joslyn Art Museum, and the Art Institute of Chicago. He is also listed in the Artist's Bluebook[27] of 34,000 North American Artists.
Wiggins is represented by Manitou Galleries,[28] Santa Fe, New Mexico. Giclee reproductions of his unique work are available through Greenwich Workshop[29] dealers.
