AJ Ainscough

AJ Ainscough’s singular brand of controlled chaos embraces and subverts traditions including pop art, cartoon realism, impressionism and surrealism. 

AJ began sketching as a toddler, churning through artistic influences ranging from Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues to the Garbage Pail Kids trading card series to the underground comix of R. Crumb. He initially aspired to a career in animation, but switched his focus to painting while a student at Eastern Illinois University, making a splash with group show appearances in Chicago, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Los Angeles. ‘A Warrior in the Garden,’ a joint showcase opposite Chicago printmaker and painter Steve Seeley, predated AJ’s Vertical Gallery debut, the 2022 solo exhibit ‘Back Outside,’ whose outsize, fantastical portraits unpack the artist’s efforts to navigate the increasingly precarious twists and turns of everyday life situations. “Each figure in each painting is a version of myself,” he says. “It’s a different adaptation of what I’m feeling, but I interpret and exaggerate my experiences to emphasize whatever feeling I’m trying to create.” AJ has since appeared in Vertical group shows including 'Atomic Number 13 Part 2,’ ‘#INK2’ and ‘Ode To…’