Sean Horton company logo
Sean Horton
Skip to main content
  • Menu
  • Images
  • Info
Menu
  • Archive

Keltie Ferris: Dear Sir or Madam

Archive exhibition
Nov 20, 2008 - Jan 17, 2009
  • Images
  • Text
  • Press
Images
  • Dearsirormadam 2008 01 300Ppi
  • Dearsirormadam 2008 02 300Ppi
  • Dearsirormadam 2008 03 300Ppi
  • Dearsirormadam 2008 04 300Ppi
Text

Using oil, acrylic, and spray paint, Keltie Ferris creates layered abstractions in which the hard edged forms embedded within the under painting contrast with the soft blur of the sprayed surface to create visual and metaphorical tensions. Oscillating between the pictorial structures of Joan Mitchell and Hans Hoffman, clusters of brushstrokes and bursts of spray paint create “clouds” that dominate the picture plane while blocks and edges are squarely painted to create visual depth. Demonstrating a rigorous concern with spatial illusion and color relationships, her process often includes spraying translucent oil paint over scraped surfaces and cutting or peeling small sections to expose the under painting or raw canvas beneath the painting’s “skin.” 

 

Representational elements such as teeth or eyes sometimes reveal the subtle image of a mask, which when coupled with a scavenger’s eye for surface, traces a lineage to artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jean Dubuffet, or the CoBrA Group. In her most recent works, a mysterious, almost prehistoric symbol is carefully drawn with dots of spray paint in the foreground, which summons the Abstract Expressionist fascination with the spiritual, metaphysical, and unconscious.  

 

Titles such as “Spider Silva” (a legendary fighter) and “Jobriath“ (the first openly gay pop star) engage the tropes of sexual identity, while “Jesus of the Moon” (a metaphor for a sleeping woman) and “Ragnarök” (a series of apocalyptical events) evoke more visceral, emotional associations. Using metallic silver and bright, almost fluorescent colors, the artist invites free associations with the era of glam, drag, decadence, The Factory, Old Hollywood, "space age" science fiction, and blatant artificiality.

 

Keltie Ferris (b. 1977, Louisville, KY) lives and works in Brooklyn. She received a MFA from Yale University in New Haven, CT and a BFA from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD). She has been included in exhibitions at Artspace, New Haven, CT; Jack Tilton, New York; Markus Winter, Berlin; and numerous exhibitions organized by Simon Watson of Scenic. Her work has recently been discussed in L.A. Weekly and Details. She is the recipient of both a Jacob Javits Fellowship and a Rema Hort Mann Foundation Grant.

 

“Dear Sir or Madam” is the artist’s New York gallery solo debut – it coincides with a solo project at the NADA Art Fair in Miami.  Entitled “Dear Sir or Madam” and “Sincerely Yours”, the pair of exhibitions present new paintings dealing with notions of expression and identity.  

 

 
Press
  • The NADA Mafia: 10 Artists Who Got Famous at the Fair

    Andrew M. Goldstein, Artspace, Dec 5, 2015
    This link opens in a new tab.
  • The Wild, True History of NADA

    Andrew M. Goldstein, Artspace, Dec 1, 2015
  • Keltie Ferris

    Martha Schwendener, Artforum, Mar 1, 2009
  • Keltie Ferris at Sunday

    Joseph R. Wolin, Modern Painters, Mar 1, 2009
  • Art in Review – Keltie Ferris

    Karen Rosenberg, The New York Times, Jan 1, 2009
  • How the Art World Became the Last Party in Town — Ones to Watch

    Details, Oct 1, 2008
    This link opens in a new tab.
Back to Archive exhibitions
Accessibility Policy
Copyright © 2025
Site by Artlogic

 

 

Instagram, opens in a new tab.
LinkedIn, opens in a new tab.