Debutant Painter Unveiling Powerful, Timely Pieces Later This Month in Local Gallery
Xavier Kelley -xraykelleyart@gmail.com
Going Thru ThEMOTIONS - A Bird’s Eye View
March 21st - May 9th, at the Columbia City Art Gallery
For Immediate Release
Roaring 20s (72” x 48”) acrylic and oil stick on canvas, a featured piece in the upcoming show characterizing the chaos of the present cultural climate. Learn more here.
The events of the past year have undoubtedly left the global collective consciousness distraught, particularly impacting the youth during an extremely formative time in their lives. 19 year-old South Seattle artist and college athlete Xavier Kelley has used this climate as a catalyst for the illustration of bold pictures of the past, present, and future. His upcoming debut with the Columbia City Art Gallery titled “Going Thru thEMOTIONS”, is set to open March 21st. Kelley invested this time solidifying his individuality as a painter. Now he is gaining the attention of local galleries, venues, and artists for his high-energy, kinetic pieces which make powerful, yet nuanced statements about the abstract reality of his perspective.
Kelley’s art evolved out of sketching graffiti in blackbooks with his cousin, since he was in elementary school. His work uses large scale canvas and bold colors to illicit visceral reactions from his audience. The pieces are stories which tell the tale of the marginalized body and the ways it is forced to move through society. Kelley uses sports and athletics as a metaphor for the ways in which BIPOC are forced to strategically and cautiously maneuver through oppressive structures. These pieces serve as a gateway into the vibrant mind of a young Black talent. The work is contemplative and analytical, frequently repurposing and incorporating both academic and cultural symbolism. He thinks of his process much like a producer sampling music, inviting visual motifs from a multitude of source materials, many shedding light to pieces of untold history.
While a gallery opening is a defining milestone in Kelley’s career, it’s only the first step towards his aspirations of becoming an all-time great. As he often reminds himself of an important quote from Baz Lurhmann’s The Get Down on the nature of incremental successes, “conquer your block, conquer your neighborhood, conquer your city, and you will conquer the world.”. While conquest is not quite synonymous with the nature of his goals, the tenacity of the quote is certainly reflected in Kelley’s work and persona, and the sentiment of the statement is absolutely aligned with the level of success in the young artist’s future.
Xavier Kelley:
With paintings currently featured in local establishments and galleries at age 19, Xavier is an up and coming artist in the Seattle scene. He is looking to expand his audience as well as his network of collaborators, galleries, buyers, and curators. Kelley can be contacted at the email xraykelleyart@gmail.com for further inquiry, and is available on Instagram @xavierkelley. His digital portfolio is located at https://www.xray-visions.com/portfolio
Police Brutality (72” x 48”) acrylic on canvas, another front piece featured in show. Learn more about it here.
