Jim Kempner Fine Art is pleased to announce an exhibition of recent drawings by Jay Kelly from March 11 through April 16. Executed in pastel and graphite on vellum, these small, seductive minimalist works are subtle distillations of pure geometric forms. This will be the artist's first solo show at the gallery. Jim Kempner Fine Art is located at 501 West 23rd Street (entrance at Tenth Avenue). Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10-6; and Sunday from 12-5.

Known as a photorealist painter of industrial landscapes, in his recent abstract work, Kelly pares down the fundamental visual elements in architecture and landscape to their purest essence of color and shape. The drawings, which measure from 3 x 6" to 5 x 5," are subtle in coloration, have a soft, diffuse, serene quality, and emanate light and depth. From a review of a recent show in San Francisco, one critic writes:

..Some patterns bring to mind the striations we have learned to associate with forensic DNA testing. Others suggest fence posts against a field of snow...

The art of Kelly's drawings is in activating a very small working space without giving scale to what happens within it. Though Kelly's pieces have not a trace of turbulence, the eye is always at sea in them....

Jay Kelly has exhibited at Graystone Gallery in San Francisco and at O.K. Harris in New York. Examples of his new work have recently been acquired by The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

For further information or visuals, please contact us at 212-206-6872