Lee Kelly, one of the Pacific Northwest's premier sculptors, has produced dynamic work that is informed by his exposure to other cultures through extensive travels, as well as having a rugged Pacific Northwest sensibility. He is a noted pioneer in the use of Cor-Ten steel, helping to establish the dominancy of the material for monumental sculpture.
"Kelly's works grace sites from Seattle to Los Angeles to Houston. . . . There was a time in the early 1970s, chief curator of the Portland Art Museum Bruce Guenther recalls, that Kelly was the only artist winning public art commissions on the West Coast."--Lisa Radon, Art Ltd.
Born in McCall, Idaho, Kelly received a BFA from the Museum Art School at the Portland Art Museum. He has been the recipient of numerous awards, fellowships and grants, including the Governor's Arts Award from the State of Oregon and two Oregon Art Commission Masters Fellowships.
RESUME
Born, McCall, Idaho
EDUCATION
1959 BFA, Pacific Northwest College of Art
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2013 Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA
2012 Atacama, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
2011 Maquettes, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
2010 Chrome, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR; Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA; Retrospective Exhibition, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR; Goddess Revisited, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
2009 Reflections of Khajuraho. Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
2008 Doubtful Sound, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
2007 Kyoto 8, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR; Lee Kelly: Civic Sculpture, B-Street Gallery, Portland, OR
2006 Incidents of Travel, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
2005 2D From 3D, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR; pARTners: Considerations Rather Than Constraints, Kirkland Arts Center, Kirkland, WA; 25 Years of Drawing in The Art Gym, Art Gym Marylhurst University, Portland, OR; Icarus Revisited: Recent Sculpture, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
2004 23+ on 9th, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
2002 Paintings and Sculptures from the Revolution 1958-1964, Savage Gallery, Portland, OR
1998 Memory 99 Outdoor Sculpture, Leland Iron Works and Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR; Recent Wall Sculptures, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR; Ships of Renewal and Other New Work, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
1997 New Work, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
1995 Career retrospective, Marylhurst College, Marylhurst, OR
1993 Sound Garden, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR; Collaborations in Steel and Sound, Cheney Cowles Museum, Spokane, WA (With composer Michael Stirling)
1992 Tools of the Butter Trade, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
1988 Collaborations in Steel and Sound, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR (With composer Michael Stirling)
1987 Love Variations, Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA; Incidents of Travel in Asia and Yucatan, exhibition of stainless steel sculpture, Littman Gallery, Portland State University, Portland, OR
1986 Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
1985 Yucatan Series, Hodges/Banks Gallery, Seattle, WA
1984 Outdoor Sculpture, year-long retrospective, Marylhurst College, Marylhurst, OR (Catalog)
SELECTED COMMISSIONS (1985 to present)
2007 Howards Way, Civic Center, Portland, OR
2006 Tahoe, Incline Village, Nevada
2005 Loowit, Salmon Creek Hospital, Vancouver, WA; Fish Ladder, Blue Lake, Central Oregon
2004 Portland Community College, Sylvania Campus, Indoor Fountain, Portland, OR; Angkor IV, Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA
2002 Box and One Lofts, Portland, Oregon. Wall sculpture for exterior of building. Fletcher, Farr, Ayotte, architects.Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA, Purchase of two outdoor sculptures: Lava Ridge and Four Columns Re-siting and installation of "Akbar's Garden" at the University of Oregon's School of Architecture, Eugene. Formerly at the Claremont Hotel, Berkeley, CA
2001 Lupine Fugue, sculpture for the Oregon Garden, Silverton, OR
1999 Healing Place, sculptural memorial for St. Vincent Hospital, Portland, OR, Stainless steel and stone. Stainless steel fountain and re-circulating pond for Michael Powell residence, Portland, OR
1998 Sculpture commission for Robert and Shake Sarkis, Seattle, WA; Bend Gate, major sculpture for the City of Bend, Oregon. Corten steel, 32' high
1996 Sculpture for Don and Emilie Frisbee residence, Portland, OR
1995 Major sculpture for PCC Rock Creek, Portland, OR Sculpture for Sapphoro, Japan. Part of Portland-Sapphoro Sister City Program
1991-1992 Sculptural wall for Joan and John Shipley residence, Portland, OR; Obelisk, sculptural obelisk for Tina and Reed Wilson, Portland, OR, Stainless steel and acrylic urethane paint, 30' high; With sound by Michael Stirling; Arlene and Harold Schnitzer residence, Portland, OR, stainless steel sculpture with acrylic urethane paint, 9' high; With composer Michael Stirling
1990 Friendship Columns, two stainless steel columns, 24'h, N. Waterfront Park, Portland, OR, with composer Michael Stirling
1989 Aeolian Columns, sculpture for the new Veterans Administration Medical Kelly Center, Portland, OR. Stainless steel and porcelain enamel columns fitted with organ pipes. Memorial for Sir James McDonald, Elk Rock Garden, Portland, OR; Paul Hart and Jan Jacobsen residence, Portland, Oregon; Garden elements, including sculptural waterway
1987 Jeff and Diane Boly residence, Portland, OR, private garden and fountain, corten steel and porcelain enamel
1986 Arch with Oaks, commissioned sculpture for the Cornell Oaks Corporate Center, Beaverton, OR; stainless steel, 48" high
1985 Bellgate, commissioned sculpture for the Bellevue Pedestrian Corridor, Bellevue, WA; stainless steel, porcelain enamel and turning mechanism; with Bonnie Bronson and David Cotter
1984 Akbar's Garden, commissioned sculpture for the Claremont Hotel, Berkeley, CA; stainless steel, 17' high; reinstalled at the University of Oregon, School of Architecture, Eugene
1985 Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon; corten steel, 14' high, Omark Industries, Portland, OR; corten steel, 14' high
SELECTED COLLECTIONS AND PUBLIC PURCHASES
City of Sapporo, Sapporo, Japan; Virginia Museum, Richmond, VA; New Orleans Art Museum, New Orleans, LA; Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID; Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA; Pacific Center, Seattle, WA; One Union Square, Seattle, WA; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA; Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA; University of Oregon, Eugene, OR; Coos Bay Art Center, Coos Bay, OR; Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR; Reed College, Portland, OR; Marylhurst University, Marylhurst, OR; Portland State University, Portland, OR; Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, OR; Oregon Health and Sciences University, Portland, OR; Omark Industries, Portland, OR; Pacific Northwest Bell, Portland, OR