The Moss Arts Center will celebrate the life and work of longtime Blacksburg resident Joe Kelley with a survey exhibition of his drawings, paintings, and sculptures. “I am gone, expanding.”
It opens on Friday, Jan. 5, with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. in the center’s Grand Lobby, according to a Moss Center news release.
A regional artist who forged what the Moss Center’s release described as “an inventive artistic path both in painting and sculpture,” Kelley died unexpectedly on Oct. 9, 2022, at the age of 55.
Bringing together a comprehensive selection of artwork created over many decades, the exhibition showcases Kelley’s vast body of work while reflecting on his artistic sensibilities: intuition and authenticity, humor and playfulness, reflection and reverence, according to the release.
Among many other roles, Joe Kelley was the head preparator and an art handler/technician at the Taubman Museum of Art.
The exhibition is co-curated by Kelley’s wife, Dominique Francesca, and Rude Graves. “I am gone, expanding” is the final line of a poem penned by Kelley that contemplates what happens after death.
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Kelley’s aesthetic draws from both his vast knowledge of naïve and folk art traditions as well as his immersion and experience in contemporary art. His work often references his love of the fields, forests, and mountains of Southwest Virginia, while also nodding to the sources of inspiration he found in architecture, urban environments and humanity.
Kelley served as a preparator and art handler at the Moss Arts Center and the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke.
“Joe Kelley was a core part of our exhibitions program here at the Moss, a steady and warm presence,” said Ruth Waalkes, associate provost for the arts at Virginia Tech and executive director of the Moss Arts Center. “More than that, Joe was a longtime friend and colleague to so many people in our community. His imprint is still seen and felt here in so many ways – in the structures that he built for neighbors, in his artworks in homes and public places around the region, and through his efforts as a volunteer on the Appalachian Trail. We miss Joe and are grateful to have this exhibition to celebrate his life and impact.”
“I am gone, expanding” will be on view in the center’s Ruth C. Horton Gallery from Jan. 5 through Jan. 13.
The Taubman Museum of Art is currently featuring an exhibition of Kelley’s work. “Birds, Beasts, and Roots: A Selection of Works by Joe Kelley” is on view at the museum through Sunday, April 7.
— The Roanoke Times
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January 01, 2024 at 06:00PM
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Moss Arts Center exhibition celebrates work of Blacksburg artist Joe Kelley - Roanoke Times
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