LAWRENCE KELSEY: An American in Paris

Madelyn Jordon is pleased to present LAWRENCE KELSEY: An American in Paris, New York painter Lawrence Kelsey’s seventh solo exhibition with the gallery from October 24 through December 6, 2014. The exhibition will consist of twenty oil paintings, created in the past two years.  The opening reception will be held Friday, October 24, 6-8 pm.  The artist will be present and the public is invited.  Previews and private showings are by appointment only. 

Lawrence R. Kelsey has been capturing the urban milieu of New York City for over thirty years, painting his home city almost exclusively.  It wasn’t until recently that his work evolved from his signature cityscapes of New York to romantic scenes of Paris, Kelsey’s second most beloved city.  In this exhibition, LAWRENCE KELSEY: An American in Paris, the viewer is able to step into the psyche of the artist while abroad, inherently experiencing all that is Paris.  From the city’s left and right banks, Kelsey has turned his attention to the eminent monuments, prominent architecture, winding rivers and timeworn bridges of the City of Light.

What is unique about this new series is that Kelsey’s signature style, i.e., the meeting of the abstract with the representational, has been transported to these new works.  We can view such similarities in the glowing effects of Paris Sunset and The Seine at Sunset.   If to be hypnotized and awestruck by the changing cycle of the earth’s night light, these radiant, auburn-orange toned Paris-scapes poignantly convey an exacting moment of enchantment when the Parisian skyline pulsates with beauty.

Upon visiting the 6th arrondissement of Paris, Kelsey’s painting, Luxembourg Gardens is a vivid take of a day-time scene evident with Parisian couples strolling about the garden.  In this charming, allegorical scene the artist dabbles with impressionism in his technique; however, multiple blankets of flat color trump the latter by way of the flat application of colors chosen for the classic garden.

Another eminent painting in this exhibition, The Seine, Autumn Afternoon captures Notre Dame’s gothic flying buttresses, boisterous and prominent,  the primary focus of the entire composition.  Divided by autumn colored trees, the Seine River is conveyed in the foreground, leading upward to far-distant, historic buildings and pied-à-terres.

For over thirty years Kelsey garnered reputation from his paintings of the island of Manhattan, that is, his love affair with monuments like the Chrysler Building, Twin Towers, as well as the city’s most well-known rivers, parks and bustling streets.  Upon setting up his easel abroad, he has actualized a new, perspective of an urban-bohemian terrain. 

Born in Ohio, Kelsey moved to New York with his family at the age of three.  He is an Alumni of The Art Students League of New York, where he was mentored by artist and Metropolitan Museum of Art Curator, Robert Beverly Hale, as well as artist, Vaclav Vytlacil.  His paintings are in the collections of the New York Historical Society, Merrill Lynch, Pfizer, Littler-Mendekson and Blackrock, among others.  He is represented by Madelyn Jordon Fine Art and holds awards and scholarships from Frank Vohees, Kent Art Association, Louis Comfort Tiffany, and the Arnold Blnch Memorial.