Betty's Big Break Painting

Van Arno was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, where he attended a Christian Science school from kindergarten through high school. He was accepted at Otis Parsons School of Design in Los Angeles, and supported himself working as a bouncer in at Club Lingerie. By the early '90s, his illustration resume included story-boarding for Robotech, deck designs for Powell Peralta, and box art for Bandai Games, but he found a niche in the music industry, where his illustration and design credits are too numerous to mention. When his focus shifted to fine art, he began to create heroic figurative works featuring religious, folk, pop culture, and mythical heroes. His work has shown nationally in Los Angeles, Seattle, Santa Fe, Nashville and New York. Internationally, Van has had solo shows at Feinkunst Kruger in Hamburg (2004), and Yves LaRoche Gallerie in Montreal (2007). His work was included in the Juxtapoz Museum exhibit, “Land Of Retinal Delights” (2008), at the Laguna Museum of Art in California. In 2010 and 2011he had work in the Riverside Art Museum. “I attempt to paint the Archetypical Moment of clarity and passion. But, above all else, imagery must be made exciting and alive. The rules of lighting, anatomy gravity and physics must be bent or broken to make the picture LOUD. That is the ultimate goal of my work.”