Sunday afternoon artist reception for William Kent show at Kehler Liddell Gallery

Kehler Liddell Gallery
873 Whalley Ave., New Haven, (203) 389-9555
Relevant Irreverence: Prints and Sculpture of William Kent
Through Aug. 23, 2009
Artist Reception: Sun., July 19, 3-6 p.m.

Press release

Kehler Liddell Gallery is thoroughly excited to exhibit the remarkable artwork of William (Bill) Kent. This exhibit represents over 40 years of work, much of it not shown since the late 60's. It is a challenge and responsibility to create a showcase for this lifetime body of work at Kehler Liddell.

Kent's slate prints (hand-carved slate printed on a range of fabrics) are very much the voice of Bill Kent: personal, political, erotic, and humorous. Created approximately 1963 - 1978 and still being printed in a changing monographic range, the work is notably relevant today. It is a chronicle of mid to late 20th Century politics and culture with reference to classical, Victorian and puritan art motifs. It remains thoughtful and certainly provocative in the arenas of politics and popular culture 2009. Kehler Liddell looks forward to a lively response from visitors and collectors.

Kent's sculptures are a master class in woodcarving and form, making banal objects elegant, satirical, and uniquely his own. The sculptures on view at KLG are humorous and visionary: recognizably shell beans, over sized utensils and vegetables, a naked chicken or shoehorn. They become abstract form. At other times, they are a wry metaphorical self-portrait of the artist.

William Kent's art - both print and sculpture - is unquestionably museum quality, highly collectible, and historically significant. Whether he is labeled a Connecticut or American artist, outsider or folk, visionary or iconoclast, this man is one for the history books of American Art. Kehler Liddell Gallery is honored to present: Relevant Irreverence.

There will be an artist's reception this Sunday, July 19, from 3-6 p.m.