Fred Tieken

Fred Tieken was a multi-media artist based in Paradise Valley, Arizona and Venice Beach, California, where he maintained two studios. Last body of works included painting, mixed media, digital works,  and sculpture all showcasing his expressionistic and painterly style, love of color, diverse subject matter, blended with his poignant commentary and humor. In Fred Tieken’s paintings, the energy of street art is transformed through the artist’s feel for color and composition and his socially aware sense of humor. 

After years as a musician and then a graphic artist, Tieken found his voice as a painter by adding the clarity of graphic art to the uninhibited energy of jazz and rock music. Citing artists like Baselitz, Schnabel and Basquiat as influences, Tieken combines their signature primal energy and sophisticated sensibility with his own precise style and wry wordplay, bringing his images firmly into their own territory.

Painting in acrylics on surfaces that range from canvas to cardboard to aluminum (often adding elements of collage), Tieken used bold brushstrokes to create complex areas of movement that provide each image with a strong surface energy. His color palette contributes another level of intensity – bursts of red, yellow and green animate his compositions. 

During his career he worked between his two beautiful studios in Paradise Valley, Arizona and Venice Beach, California. Tieken's work was featured in more than 60 juried exhibitions and one-person shows from coast-to-coast. He also exhibited in several major art fairs including Aqua Art Miami, XContemporary, Spectrum Miami, LA Art Show and Palm Springs Fine Art Fair. He produced his final body of work featuring two digital art series: "ER” and "Brainstorm” in 2018, which we were honored to showcase and host in Tieken’s final exhibition "Art, Music, Life, Repeat" in October 2019 at Royse Contemporary.

After several daunting years filled with medical battles, Fred Tieken passed away on April 18, 2022 and his beloved wife and partner Gail Tieken passed away on May 29, 2022. The Tieken’s were incredible people and so important to the art community here in Arizona and California, both through his artwork and their philanthropy. Royse Contemporary built a long-term personal and professional relationship with the Tieken’s, sharing “they were an incredible couple whose commitment to the arts and building a stronger art community here in Arizona was very important to them, and it has been an honor to work with them on numerous projects over these last 12 years,” states Royse.