ABOUT THE ARTIST
Keith Perelli b. 1968

1994 MFA, Painting and Sculpture, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
1991 BA, Painting and Printmaking, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA

Keith Perelli is a visual artist working in painting and drawing, and a native of New Orleans, Louisiana. He has participated in numerous, national and international invitation and juried exhibitions. He has exhibited his work at d.o.c.s. Gallery in New Orleans, Found Gallery in Los Angeles and Steve Martin Fine Art in Miami. Perelli is a recipient of the SURDNA Foundation Arts Teacher’s Fellowship, a Louisiana Division of the Arts Fellowship, and a Foundation Ratti Arts Fellowship. He has received four professional development grants from the Louisiana Division of the Arts. He teaches Drawing and Painting at New Orleans Center of Creative Art.

In addition to six solo exhibitions at d.o.c.s. Gallery  and one at Found Gallery, his work was selected for the Foundation Ratti “Corso Superiore,” Como, Italy, “Alan Kaprow Invitational,” Milan, Italy, “University of New Orleans 3 Person Alumni Works on Paper,” Innsbruck, Austria and “Louisiana Artists,” Museum of Art, Alexandria, Louisiana. Most recently, his work was selected for a “Culture of Queer, A Tribute to J.B. Harter” exhibited in New York, NY and the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans, and a traveling exhibit entitled “Katrina, Catastrophe and Catharsis,” at the Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado. His work has also been featured in the Red Dot Show during Art Basel Miami and Art Now Fair in New York.

IN HIS OWN WORDS

This exhibition features work from two series titled “Return” and “Profile.”

Upon my return to the Gulf Coast region after hurricane Katrina in 2005, I was in awe of nature’s transformative power. While I saw the storm as a scientific phenomenon, I could not help but question the events that had transpired through the filter of my religious upbringing. For me, the almost biblical tone of the storm and its aftermath revealed our greatest and darkest tendencies as humans. Through subject matter including boats, architecture, nature and the figure I produced works exploring themes of loss, change and healing. I attempted to pare down the subject in order to communicate on a visceral level. Human vulnerability is at the core of each piece.

I worked from observation and my imagination to compose works that were both familiar and surreal. I wanted to create work that was respectful of the individuals and communities that have lost so much. I carefully manipulated the subject matter to accentuate an intrinsic connection between humans, nature and spirituality. I attempted to compose quiet solemn paintings that might possibly communicate the physical and spiritual aspects of loss and recovery 

In 2007, I began to explore the figure in profile. I shifted the focus from a physically recognizable world to one that was more abstract in substance and content. Here, the environments stabilize a figure that might otherwise seem somewhat lost in thought. Colors, brushstrokes and textures act as external forces surrounding the introspective figure. The collage process allowed me to shift and layer varied compositional elements. While, I have specific ideas about what each figure represents, I hope to invite the viewer’s own experience and thoughts in interpreting the work. 

Artist's Web Site: keithperelli.com