Staff Report
The River City News
A father and son duo are bringing the walls to life at the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG).
Two post-modern pop murals will be completed next Wednesday for travelers to enjoy thanks to a partnership between CVG and Covington-based creative firm BLDG.
Kevin T. Kelly and Jack Kelly have been working on the art at the airport. Kevin, 56, is a graduate of the Art Academy of Cincinnati and worked in New York City as a studio assistant for pop artist Tom Wesselmann for six years. His son, Jack, 23, graduated from Columbus College of Art & Design and lives in Cincinnati where he works as a freelance commercial artist.
“This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase true performance artists and their pop art to our passengers,” said Candace McGraw, chief executive officer, CVG. “We’re excited for this partnership and to see the end result that will adorn our Customs area in Concourse B to welcome guests to the region.”
Kevin T. Kelly
Kelly’s work is decidedly “Neo-Pop” or “Post-Pop”. Infused with a postmodern sensibility, contemporaneous subject matter, and executed in what the artist refers to as a “hyper-chromatic” palette, the paintings are not only redolent of contemporary issues and politics, but excel as studies in formal definition, composition and color. Allowing for open-ended lines of query and interpretation without the burdensome weight of didactic pretense, Kelly chooses to establish a dialogue with the viewer vis-à-vis the painted image rather than wag his finger sanctimoniously from an ivory tower like so much “Activist Art” does today. The work has been described as: “Roy Lichtenstein meets Dennis
Hopper on Steroids.” It’s a wry, complex admixture of sardonic social commentary, the six o’clock news and the Sunday funnies.
He currently lives and works in the Greater Cincinnati area. His paintings have appeared on the cover of New American Paintings in 2000 and 2003. His work is featured in numerous public and private collections both in the United States and abroad, including Breitling S.A., The Kinsey Institute and Procter and Gamble. In addition to having taught as an adjunct professor at The Art Academy of Cincinnati and the Baker-Hunt Foundation in Covington, KY, he has also written critical review for Cincinnati CityBeat, Dialogue magazine, New Art Examiner and AEQAI.
Jack Kelly
Jack Kelly, born in New York City in 1993, recently graduated from the Columbus College of Art and Design with his B.F.A in Illustration and a minor in Fine Art. He has recently moved back to the Greater Cincinnati area where he has been working as a freelance commercial artist.
Jack’s work bridges the gap between many diverse media ranging from motion graphics, to pattern and textile design, to illustrative graphic posters and apparel design. His visual style incorporates the fundamental skills of draftsmanship, strong composition and graphic reduction with an emphasis on utilizing limited palettes. His working methodology has developed from his interest in commercial illustration and traditional printmaking techniques such as silkscreen and intaglio.
