Robert and Thomas Kelly are twins, and if their artistic vision seems
poles apart at first glance--exemplifying, in fact, the differences
between abstract art and interpretive documentary photography--a closer
look reveals certain related traits including affinities for form, color
and the cultural origins of the art impulse itself. As artists
influenced by their seminal years in New Mexico this should come as no
surprise, and as much as Robert Kelly's imagery may seem to allude to
modernism, abstraction, and especially the geometricity of op and
minimalism, it doesn't take much sleuthing to see the bold graphical
acuity of the Plains Indians as a distinctive point of origin. If the
baroque mystique of Thomas Kelly's photography initially seems at a far
remove from his brother's in tone and scope, the Nepalese Hindu shamans
and saddhus seen in his images ultimately derive their sense of design
from a not unrelated metaphysical impulse. It has been said that "Both
artists are able to suggest that which the eye cannot see and have a
certain reflection and absorption in the act of creating an image. They
prefer to live with questions rather than answers, pointing toward
greater mysteries. Inspired by the notion that sacred symbols are
concealed and then revealed, each artist uses their respective mediums
to express their ultimate concerns. They use creativity to find
sanctuary, beauty, humility, focus and a voice."
Octavia Art Gallery, 454 Julia Street St., 309-4249.
Robert and Thomas Kelly are twins, and if their artistic vision seems
poles apart at first glance--exemplifying, in fact, the differences
between abstract art and interpretive documentary photography--a closer
look reveals certain related traits including affinities for form, color
and the cultural origins of the art impulse itself. As artists
influenced by their seminal years in New Mexico this should come as no
surprise, and as much as Robert Kelly's imagery may seem to allude to 
modernism, abstraction, and especially the geometricity of op and
minimalism, it doesn't take much sleuthing to see the bold graphical
acuity of the Plains Indians as a distinctive point of origin. If the
baroque mystique of Thomas Kelly's photography initially seems at a far
remove from his brother's in tone and scope, the Nepalese Hindu shamans
and saddhus seen in his images ultimately derive their sense of design
from a not unrelated metaphysical impulse. It has been said that "Both
artists are able to suggest that which the eye cannot see and have a
certain reflection and absorption in the act of creating an image. They
prefer to live with questions rather than answers, pointing toward
greater mysteries. Inspired by the notion that sacred symbols are
concealed and then revealed, each artist uses their respective mediums
to express their ultimate concerns. They use creativity to find
sanctuary, beauty, humility, focus and a voice." Octavia Art Gallery, 454 Julia Street St., 309-4249.
