brian kelly
gouged, cut, and band-aids

a virtual reception will be held via our facebook and instagram pages on december 2nd. Follow us at BRGallery for updates and images!

the in-person FIRST WEDNESDAY OPENING RECEPTION & artICULATE aRTIST tALK have been cancelled for this exhibition due to risks associated with the covid-19 pandemic. the gallery will be open during regular business hours (Tu - Su, 12pm - 6pm) for individuals or groups under 25 people. social distancing and masks are required.

“In my estimation, image making is a journey into the unseen – never the unknown. When I look down on a sheet of paper, or a freshly ground stone, I know there is a yet-to-be discovered image within the surface. When a work begins, I have no specific agenda, just an attitude of energy, personal memories, and a love for just pure drawing. The work evolves, beginning with one form leading to the next, and so on. These playing of forms off each other result in a puzzling assortment of figures and shapes that move through an apparently irrational though structured world.”

Kelly’s work draws its influence from the relationship and awareness of one's impact to another’s personal environment. They are personal roadmaps that document personal explorations located outside of his studio in Lafayette Louisiana, as well as others found in Utah, New Mexico, Montana, and Colorado. These landscapes both, natural and man-made, feed compositional structure and rhythms within his work.

Kelly’s prints are personal narrative’s that reference impacted space. They speak about specific experiences and places that can be social, personal, and even political in nature. These narrative events speak metaphorically about personal and social issues and are presented in a motionless state, as if they were specimens or glimpses of a world outside of, or removed from, the human realm. The compositions tend to be overflowing with imagery and chaotic but always grounded in a strong sense of structural formalism and a pure love for the rendering of form.

While the intent or expectation of the viewer to be concerned with the specific personal event that might inspire an image is not important, Kelly’s intent is to engage the viewer with that event’s peculiar and evocative presence, allowing the viewer to react, explore, and interpret these surreal worlds.

This exhibition is presented alongside the latest works from Kathleen Lemoine & John Harlan Norris. All works from these artists are on view, free of charge, during normal gallery hours (12 - 6 p.m., Tue - Sun) from February 2nd - 25th.