The Rockford Art Museum presents the exhibit "Ken Hoffman: 10 More And Bigger" May 19-September 24.

As an Illinois artist for more than 50 years, Hoffman is perhaps best known for his humorous and colorfully painted and collaged portraits of humanlike animals. But upon closer inspection, some of the animal figures begin to break away from whimsy and draw us into more psychological narratives ranging from socio-political topics to cultural and interpersonal relationships. In many instances, both in his small and large-scale animal figures and his expressive murals, Ken may also use words, collage and found objects that draw the viewer in for a closer look.

The tie that binds his many decades of production together, whether it be his animal figures or other subjects, is the power and energy created by his application of paint, line and color. With such a long history of an incredibly productive creative process, it is well deserved that Hoffman has been hailed as one of the Midwest’s premier expressionist painters.

The exhibition is sponsored by Amy Towne and Scott Snyder. Snyder, a former curator at RAM and former student of Ken Hoffman, is the guest curator of the exhibition.