GAYLETTER

No hyperbole could adequately address the legacy of Ellsworth Kelly (1923–2015). Best known for his clean and colorful hard-edge paintings, throughout his enduring career the New York-based artist put his minimalist spin on a range of art forms from sculpture to printmaking. His many experimentations included postcard collages, which he saw as a kind of test for ideas he’d later work out at a larger scale, producing over 400 of these quietly surreal works over a five-decade period. By ripping and snipping magazine clippings and pieces of construction paper and then pasting them onto the cookie-cutter picturesque scenes, he disrupted landmarks and landscapes with simple geometric shapes and unexpected combinations.

While Kelly gave dozens of these postcards to friends and family over the years, the majority stayed in his studio, safely ending up in the hands of the artist’s long-time partner, Jack Shear. In 2022, Matthew Marks Gallery in New York presented a multi-gallery retrospective on Kelly, which included a selection of the artist’s postcards. The year before, a survey of 150 postcards made their debut at Skidmore College’s Tang Museum, a show which then travels to the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin, where you can also find Kelly’s colorfully luminous chapel, the artist’s final and most monumental work.

© Ellsworth Kelly Foundation, courtesy of Matthew Marks Gallery and courtesy of Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin.

This story was printed in GAYLETTER Issue 16, get a copy here.

No hyperbole could adequately address the legacy of Ellsworth Kelly (1923–2015). Best known for his clean and colorful hard-edge paintings, throughout his enduring career the New York-based artist put his minimalist spin on a range of art forms from sculpture to printmaking. His many experimentations included postcard collages, which he saw as a kind of test for ideas he’d later work out at a larger scale, producing over 400 of these quietly surreal works over a five-decade period. By ripping and snipping magazine clippings and pieces of construction paper and then pasting them onto the cookie-cutter picturesque scenes, he disrupted landmarks and landscapes with simple geometric shapes and unexpected combinations.

While Kelly gave dozens of these postcards to friends and family over the years, the majority stayed in his studio, safely ending up in the hands of the artist’s long-time partner, Jack Shear. In 2022, Matthew Marks Gallery in New York presented a multi-gallery retrospective on Kelly, which included a selection of the artist’s postcards. The year before, a survey of 150 postcards made their debut at Skidmore College’s Tang Museum, a show which then travels to the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin, where you can also find Kelly’s colorfully luminous chapel, the artist’s final and most monumental work.

© Ellsworth Kelly Foundation, courtesy of Matthew Marks Gallery and courtesy of Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin.

This story was printed in GAYLETTER Issue 16, get a copy here.

No hyperbole could adequately address the legacy of Ellsworth Kelly (1923–2015). Best known for his clean and colorful hard-edge paintings, throughout his enduring career the New York-based artist put his minimalist spin on a range of art forms from sculpture to printmaking. His many experimentations included postcard collages, which he saw as a kind of test for ideas he’d later work out at a larger scale, producing over 400 of these quietly surreal works over a five-decade period. By ripping and snipping magazine clippings and pieces of construction paper and then pasting them onto the cookie-cutter picturesque scenes, he disrupted landmarks and landscapes with simple geometric shapes and unexpected combinations.

While Kelly gave dozens of these postcards to friends and family over the years, the majority stayed in his studio, safely ending up in the hands of the artist’s long-time partner, Jack Shear. In 2022, Matthew Marks Gallery in New York presented a multi-gallery retrospective on Kelly, which included a selection of the artist’s postcards. The year before, a survey of 150 postcards made their debut at Skidmore College’s Tang Museum, a show which then travels to the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin, where you can also find Kelly’s colorfully luminous chapel, the artist’s final and most monumental work.

© Ellsworth Kelly Foundation, courtesy of Matthew Marks Gallery and courtesy of Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin.

This story was printed in GAYLETTER Issue 16, get a copy here.

No hyperbole could adequately address the legacy of Ellsworth Kelly (1923–2015). Best known for his clean and colorful hard-edge paintings, throughout his enduring career the New York-based artist put his minimalist spin on a range of art forms from sculpture to printmaking. His many experimentations included postcard collages, which he saw as a kind of test for ideas he’d later work out at a larger scale, producing over 400 of these quietly surreal works over a five-decade period. By ripping and snipping magazine clippings and pieces of construction paper and then pasting them onto the cookie-cutter picturesque scenes, he disrupted landmarks and landscapes with simple geometric shapes and unexpected combinations.

While Kelly gave dozens of these postcards to friends and family over the years, the majority stayed in his studio, safely ending up in the hands of the artist’s long-time partner, Jack Shear. In 2022, Matthew Marks Gallery in New York presented a multi-gallery retrospective on Kelly, which included a selection of the artist’s postcards. The year before, a survey of 150 postcards made their debut at Skidmore College’s Tang Museum, a show which then travels to the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin, where you can also find Kelly’s colorfully luminous chapel, the artist’s final and most monumental work.

© Ellsworth Kelly Foundation, courtesy of Matthew Marks Gallery and courtesy of Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin.

This story was printed in GAYLETTER Issue 16, get a copy here.

No hyperbole could adequately address the legacy of Ellsworth Kelly (1923–2015). Best known for his clean and colorful hard-edge paintings, throughout his enduring career the New York-based artist put his minimalist spin on a range of art forms from sculpture to printmaking. His many experimentations included postcard collages, which he saw as a kind of test for ideas he’d later work out at a larger scale, producing over 400 of these quietly surreal works over a five-decade period. By ripping and snipping magazine clippings and pieces of construction paper and then pasting them onto the cookie-cutter picturesque scenes, he disrupted landmarks and landscapes with simple geometric shapes and unexpected combinations.

While Kelly gave dozens of these postcards to friends and family over the years, the majority stayed in his studio, safely ending up in the hands of the artist’s long-time partner, Jack Shear. In 2022, Matthew Marks Gallery in New York presented a multi-gallery retrospective on Kelly, which included a selection of the artist’s postcards. The year before, a survey of 150 postcards made their debut at Skidmore College’s Tang Museum, a show which then travels to the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin, where you can also find Kelly’s colorfully luminous chapel, the artist’s final and most monumental work.

© Ellsworth Kelly Foundation, courtesy of Matthew Marks Gallery and courtesy of Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin.

This story was printed in GAYLETTER Issue 16, get a copy here.

No hyperbole could adequately address the legacy of Ellsworth Kelly (1923–2015). Best known for his clean and colorful hard-edge paintings, throughout his enduring career the New York-based artist put his minimalist spin on a range of art forms from sculpture to printmaking. His many experimentations included postcard collages, which he saw as a kind of test for ideas he’d later work out at a larger scale, producing over 400 of these quietly surreal works over a five-decade period. By ripping and snipping magazine clippings and pieces of construction paper and then pasting them onto the cookie-cutter picturesque scenes, he disrupted landmarks and landscapes with simple geometric shapes and unexpected combinations.

While Kelly gave dozens of these postcards to friends and family over the years, the majority stayed in his studio, safely ending up in the hands of the artist’s long-time partner, Jack Shear. In 2022, Matthew Marks Gallery in New York presented a multi-gallery retrospective on Kelly, which included a selection of the artist’s postcards. The year before, a survey of 150 postcards made their debut at Skidmore College’s Tang Museum, a show which then travels to the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin, where you can also find Kelly’s colorfully luminous chapel, the artist’s final and most monumental work.

© Ellsworth Kelly Foundation, courtesy of Matthew Marks Gallery and courtesy of Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin.

This story was printed in GAYLETTER Issue 16, get a copy here.

No hyperbole could adequately address the legacy of Ellsworth Kelly (1923–2015). Best known for his clean and colorful hard-edge paintings, throughout his enduring career the New York-based artist put his minimalist spin on a range of art forms from sculpture to printmaking. His many experimentations included postcard collages, which he saw as a kind of test for ideas he’d later work out at a larger scale, producing over 400 of these quietly surreal works over a five-decade period. By ripping and snipping magazine clippings and pieces of construction paper and then pasting them onto the cookie-cutter picturesque scenes, he disrupted landmarks and landscapes with simple geometric shapes and unexpected combinations.

While Kelly gave dozens of these postcards to friends and family over the years, the majority stayed in his studio, safely ending up in the hands of the artist’s long-time partner, Jack Shear. In 2022, Matthew Marks Gallery in New York presented a multi-gallery retrospective on Kelly, which included a selection of the artist’s postcards. The year before, a survey of 150 postcards made their debut at Skidmore College’s Tang Museum, a show which then travels to the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin, where you can also find Kelly’s colorfully luminous chapel, the artist’s final and most monumental work.

© Ellsworth Kelly Foundation, courtesy of Matthew Marks Gallery and courtesy of Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin.

This story was printed in GAYLETTER Issue 16, get a copy here.

No hyperbole could adequately address the legacy of Ellsworth Kelly (1923–2015). Best known for his clean and colorful hard-edge paintings, throughout his enduring career the New York-based artist put his minimalist spin on a range of art forms from sculpture to printmaking. His many experimentations included postcard collages, which he saw as a kind of test for ideas he’d later work out at a larger scale, producing over 400 of these quietly surreal works over a five-decade period. By ripping and snipping magazine clippings and pieces of construction paper and then pasting them onto the cookie-cutter picturesque scenes, he disrupted landmarks and landscapes with simple geometric shapes and unexpected combinations.

While Kelly gave dozens of these postcards to friends and family over the years, the majority stayed in his studio, safely ending up in the hands of the artist’s long-time partner, Jack Shear. In 2022, Matthew Marks Gallery in New York presented a multi-gallery retrospective on Kelly, which included a selection of the artist’s postcards. The year before, a survey of 150 postcards made their debut at Skidmore College’s Tang Museum, a show which then travels to the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin, where you can also find Kelly’s colorfully luminous chapel, the artist’s final and most monumental work.

© Ellsworth Kelly Foundation, courtesy of Matthew Marks Gallery and courtesy of Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin.

This story was printed in GAYLETTER Issue 16, get a copy here.

No hyperbole could adequately address the legacy of Ellsworth Kelly (1923–2015). Best known for his clean and colorful hard-edge paintings, throughout his enduring career the New York-based artist put his minimalist spin on a range of art forms from sculpture to printmaking. His many experimentations included postcard collages, which he saw as a kind of test for ideas he’d later work out at a larger scale, producing over 400 of these quietly surreal works over a five-decade period. By ripping and snipping magazine clippings and pieces of construction paper and then pasting them onto the cookie-cutter picturesque scenes, he disrupted landmarks and landscapes with simple geometric shapes and unexpected combinations.

While Kelly gave dozens of these postcards to friends and family over the years, the majority stayed in his studio, safely ending up in the hands of the artist’s long-time partner, Jack Shear. In 2022, Matthew Marks Gallery in New York presented a multi-gallery retrospective on Kelly, which included a selection of the artist’s postcards. The year before, a survey of 150 postcards made their debut at Skidmore College’s Tang Museum, a show which then travels to the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin, where you can also find Kelly’s colorfully luminous chapel, the artist’s final and most monumental work.

© Ellsworth Kelly Foundation, courtesy of Matthew Marks Gallery and courtesy of Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin.

This story was printed in GAYLETTER Issue 16, get a copy here.

No hyperbole could adequately address the legacy of Ellsworth Kelly (1923–2015). Best known for his clean and colorful hard-edge paintings, throughout his enduring career the New York-based artist put his minimalist spin on a range of art forms from sculpture to printmaking. His many experimentations included postcard collages, which he saw as a kind of test for ideas he’d later work out at a larger scale, producing over 400 of these quietly surreal works over a five-decade period. By ripping and snipping magazine clippings and pieces of construction paper and then pasting them onto the cookie-cutter picturesque scenes, he disrupted landmarks and landscapes with simple geometric shapes and unexpected combinations.

While Kelly gave dozens of these postcards to friends and family over the years, the majority stayed in his studio, safely ending up in the hands of the artist’s long-time partner, Jack Shear. In 2022, Matthew Marks Gallery in New York presented a multi-gallery retrospective on Kelly, which included a selection of the artist’s postcards. The year before, a survey of 150 postcards made their debut at Skidmore College’s Tang Museum, a show which then travels to the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin, where you can also find Kelly’s colorfully luminous chapel, the artist’s final and most monumental work.

© Ellsworth Kelly Foundation, courtesy of Matthew Marks Gallery and courtesy of Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin.

This story was printed in GAYLETTER Issue 16, get a copy here.

No hyperbole could adequately address the legacy of Ellsworth Kelly (1923–2015). Best known for his clean and colorful hard-edge paintings, throughout his enduring career the New York-based artist put his minimalist spin on a range of art forms from sculpture to printmaking. His many experimentations included postcard collages, which he saw as a kind of test for ideas he’d later work out at a larger scale, producing over 400 of these quietly surreal works over a five-decade period. By ripping and snipping magazine clippings and pieces of construction paper and then pasting them onto the cookie-cutter picturesque scenes, he disrupted landmarks and landscapes with simple geometric shapes and unexpected combinations.

While Kelly gave dozens of these postcards to friends and family over the years, the majority stayed in his studio, safely ending up in the hands of the artist’s long-time partner, Jack Shear. In 2022, Matthew Marks Gallery in New York presented a multi-gallery retrospective on Kelly, which included a selection of the artist’s postcards. The year before, a survey of 150 postcards made their debut at Skidmore College’s Tang Museum, a show which then travels to the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin, where you can also find Kelly’s colorfully luminous chapel, the artist’s final and most monumental work.

© Ellsworth Kelly Foundation, courtesy of Matthew Marks Gallery and courtesy of Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin.

This story was printed in GAYLETTER Issue 16, get a copy here.