WWU Associate Professor Ryan Kelly to exhibit work at CWU this month
Associate Professor of Ceramics and Foundations Ryan Kelly will be featured in a solo exhibit at the Sarah Spurgeon Gallery at Central Washington University starting on Feb. 19.
Whether he’s working in the idiom of theater or kitsch — large theatrical masks of papier-mâché or smaller ceramics inspired by cookie jars and collectibles — Kelly’s creations exhibit vivid expressions and fascinating characters crafted with precision and detail that gives them an immediately identifiable quality.
From an aggrieved Humpty Dumpty about to tumble off his wall to an unlovely Christmas elf who appears to be celebrating the holidays early, his works invite the viewer to laugh, inspect or recoil.
“My solo exhibition ‘But wait, there's more!’ at CWU's Sarah Spurgeon gallery is a rare opportunity for me to show both my large-scale mixed media sculptural work as well as a grouping of smaller scale ceramic sculptures. Both bodies of work draw on my love for and study of domestic and vernacular art forms, but with a decidedly bent sensibility,” Kelly said.
Kelly holds a BFA in ceramics from the Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA from The Ohio State University. Before moving to Bellingham, he lived and worked in Philadelphia, where he was a resident artist at The Clay Studio, a recipient of an Independence Foundation Fellowship, and a co-curator at Practice Gallery.
This exhibit “But wait, there’s more!” will remain on view through March 14. Sarah Spurgeon Gallery is open on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The gallery is closed on Sundays.
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