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Opening Reception 3-5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21 | Goppert Gallery

(Leavenworth, Kan.)—The »¨½·Ö±²¥ welcomes a guest art exhibition, "Alternate Realities," featuring the works of artist Kelli Scott Kelley in the university's Goppert Gallery, on USM's Leavenworth campus, 4100 South 4th Street.

The opening reception will be from 3-5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21, in the Goppert Gallery, with a brief artist presentation at 3:10 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. The show will be on display weekdays through Oct. 5 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

Alternate Realities will encompass selections from two bodies of Kelley's work—"Accalia and the Swamp Monster" series and "Shadows." Mired in the haunting landscape of southern Louisiana, "Accalia and the Swamp Monster" is a surreal fairy tale, based on the artist's autobiography and dreams. "Shadows" were derived from contemplating relationships; relationships to one's self and to "the other." Kelley's works explore dualities existing within ourselves and the dichotomies humans face in attempt to connect to other sentient beings and with the natural world.

Kelley had this to say about her upcoming exhibit at »¨½·Ö±²¥: "Through personal and universal icons, my artworks explore multiple states of reality. Figures, animals, and objects appear in metaphorical narratives, which explore humankind's connections, disconnections, and impact upon the natural world. My hope is that the pieces will be experienced in a poetic way, and that viewers will have an intuitive response based on their individual life experiences."  

Originally from Baton Rouge, La., Kelley is a professor of painting at Louisiana State University School of Art. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from LSU and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Massachusetts - Amherst.

Since 1987, Kelley's work has been primarily comprised of mixed-media narrative paintings, drawings, and objects. She has also collaborated with her husband, a music composer, on surreal performances and video pieces. Kelley's paintings have been exhibited in venues worldwide, including the Mesic Ve Dne Gallerie in Czeske Budejovice, Czech Republic; Bangalore University in India; the Contemporary Arts Museum and the Hooks-Epstein Gallery in Houston; the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art in Colorado; and Taylor Bercier Gallery in New Orleans. In 2012, Kelley was awarded a $32,000 Awards to Louisiana Artists and Scholars grant to complete her project Accalia and the Swamp Monster. And in 2014, the traveling exhibit opened at the LSU Museum of Art in a joint event with LSU Press, which published Kelley's book of the same name.

For more information on this exhibit, call USM Art Program Director Shelby Prindaville at 913-758-6184.

 

The »¨½·Ö±²¥ is a Catholic co-educational applied liberal arts university founded and sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth. The University of »¨½·Ö±²¥ main campus is located at 4100 South 4th Street, Leavenworth, Kan. USM's Overland Park Campus at 4500 College Boulevard offers evening accelerated graduate and undergraduate degree-completion programs. The university also offers online programs. Visit stmary.edu for more information.