Kevin T. Kelly, born in 1960, graduated from the Art Academy of Cincinnati in 1987 with a B.F.A. in Sculpture. He moved to New York City in 1988, where he worked as a studio assistant to Tom Wesselmann for six years.
Kelly’s work is decidedly “Neo-Pop†or “Post-Popâ€. Infused with a postmodern sensibility, contemporaneous subject matter, and executed in what the artist refers to as a “hyper-chromatic†palette, the paintings are not only redolent of contemporary issues and politics, but excel as studies in formal definition, composition and color. Allowing for open-ended lines of query and interpretation without the burdensome weight of didactic pretense, Kelly chooses to establish a dialogue with the viewer vis-à -vis the painted image rather than wag his finger sanctimoniously from an ivory tower like so much “Activist Art†does today. The work has been described as: “Roy Lichtenstein meets Dennis Hopper on Steroids.†It’s a wry, complex admixture of sardonic social commentary, the six o’clock news and the Sunday funnies.
He currently lives and works in the Greater Cincinnati area. His work has appeared on the cover of New American Paintings in 2000 and 2003. In addition to teaching as an adjunct professor at The Art Academy of Cincinnati and the Baker-Hunt Foundation in Covington, KY, he has also written critical review for Cincinnati CityBeat, Dialogue magazine and New Art Examiner.
