About Page
Artist Statement
"Born March 18, 1982: A self-taught artist, Kreg David Kelley won his first art award at the age of 12 with the 'Connecticut Scholastic Art Awards Program' for a drawing entitled 'Holocaust'. In 1996 he drew several drawings of the first teacher-in-space, S. Christa McAuliffe, which now hang in the Christa Corrigan McAuliffe Center in Framingham, MA. In 1998 he lost his father to ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) which ultimately changed many of his future plans and views on life. Throughout his teenage life he experimented in different artistic mediums, but it wasn't until 2003 that his art became more of a full-on hobby. Aside from abstraction and 3D works on canvas, he utilizes damaged antique engravings and lithographs from the 18th & 19th century into his pieces. From February until April of 2006, he had his first solo show with the Actors Theatre of Washington (Ganymede Arts) in collaboration with David Mamet's Victorian lesbian comedy,'Boston Marriage': all 15 pieces sold. During that time, he was also commissioned by his gallery to create a collage of the 100th anniversary of D.C.'s University Club, which now hangs in their lobby. Several of his pieces are in a Gerry Garvin restaurant on Sunset Boulevard & he participated in a group show in NYC featuring works by Yoko Ono. He has donated pieces to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) National Dinner, Whitman Walker Clinic's Art for Life, and Georgetown Hospital's/Four Season's Georgetown Jingle. He has sold works to clients in many countries across the world including Amsterdam, Canada, Brazil, Greece, Denmark, Norway, Russia, Australia, France, Japan, Italy, Spain, & the United Kingdom. His current showing is Go Mama Go...www.GoMamaGo.com on 14th St NW DC, Ulah Bistro...www.UlahBistro.com on U St NW DC, and Larry's Lounge on 18th St NW DC. Having moved from Connecticut to attend the George Washington University, he has been living in D.C. since 2000 and is the visual arts curator for Ganymede Arts (www.GanymedeArts.org) and principal curator of a fine art gallery in Georgetown specializing in original works on paper by 19th & 20th century masters."
Artist Statement: The creation of art has always been an escape and a hobby for me. I am self-taught and my style tends to be all over the map. My artistic role-models include Keith Haring, Jean Cocteau, Jacques Villon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jackson Pollock, Salvador Dali, & Amedeo Modigliani. Nothing has been more rewarding to me then experiencing the joy and happiness my work evokes in viewers. To bring an emotion or smile to someone's face is how I can tell I've created something meaningful...to me that is the most rewarding part of being an artist.
PRESS:
"Kreg Kelley pushes the limits of his collages..."
-John Blee, The GEORGETOWNER, Art Wrap:
Art Runneth Over at Artomatic, June 2009
"...An ingenious touch is provided by a series of paintings hanging on the set and on the theater walls. The subject matter, all portraits of women, provides an early tip-off to the play's Sapphic theme. And artist Kreg Kelley has created a perfect modernist look, recalling Matisse and especially Picasso's famous portrait of Gertrude Stein..."
-Celia Wren, The WASHINGTON POST, February 21, 2006
"...the Source Theatre ...has never looked better. Not only do painter Kreg Kelley's modernist looking portraits exclusively of women decorate the set, but they adorn the house as well. The theatre's interior has been well scrubbed and painted, while outside, a new brightly lit marquee twinkles 'Boston Marriage'..."
-Patrick Folliard, The WASHINGTON BLADE, March 3, 2006
"...As this may well be the last show to play Source Theatre, it is sad but gratifying to report that the hall itself has never looked better, outfitted with a false proscenium and festooned both onstage and off with art by Kreg Kelley."
-Bob Mondello, The WASHINGTON CITY PAPER, March 2, 2006
Exhibitions
8/7-9/7/09
406 7th St NW # 2 Washington, DC
Touchstone Gallery: Summer Group Show
11/14/09-
1809 14th Street NW DC
Go Mama Go
5/29-7/5
55 Half Street (Navy Yard Metro, SE, DC)
ARTOMATIC 2009 - SECOND FLOOR
6/24-8/7
Art Museum of Americas: 1889 F Street NW. www.museum.oas.org/
XI Annual OAS (Organization of American States) 2009 Art Exhibition
12/20/08-
1214 U Street, NW
Ulah Bistro
Jan. 2010
Bethesda, MD
Ratner Museum
12/4-12/24
Warehouse Theater: 1017 7th St, NW (Near Convention Center)
David Sedaris: Santaland Diaries (Winter- 2008)
1/1/09-
1214 U Street, NW, DC, 20009
Ulah Bistro
9/25-10/5
Church Street Theater
Ganymede Arts: 2nd Annual Arts Festival 2008
11/14/08
Carnegie Institute, DC
Art for Life 2008: Whitman Walker Gala
5/9-6/15
1200 First Street, NE
ArtoMatic 2008
12/9/07
Four Seasons Hotel, Georgetown
Georgetown Jingle
11/15/07
Office fo the Amercias (OAS) Building
Art for Life - Whitman Walker Benefit
10/19-29th
Church Street Theatre
Ganymede Fall Arts Festival
10/5-6/07
DC Convention Center
HRC (Human Rights Campaign) National Dinner Silent Auction
6/07-1/09
1513 17th Street NW
The 17th Street Cafe
Oct.06/07
Covention Center
Human Rights Campaign (HRC)
9/16-17/06
Washington Convention Center, D.C.
NBC4 2006 EXPO
Sept-Oct06
Washington, D.C.
Results Gym: Capitol Hill
Gallery Representation
17th Street : Art Anthology : April 2007-January 2009 (Currently Closed)
Ulah Bistro (12/08)-Currently Showing
Reviews and Press
2/21/2006
The Washington Post
Nary a Run in the Bluestocking Banter of 'Boston Marriage'
3/3/2006
The Washington Blade
A Same-Sex Marriage
10/1/07
Karen Black - Ganymede Arts Festival Press Release
Local GBLT Artists Shine At Ganymede Arts Festival
June 2009
Art Wrap: Artomatic 2009 - The Georgetowner
Art Wrap: Artomatic 2009 - The Georgetowner