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originally published: 11/22/2022

(NEW YORK, NY) -- Walter Wickiser Gallery Inc. presents a virtual exhibition, "Thomas Kelly: Schoolyard Forever," now through January 17th, 2023. The exhibition is virtual on Artsy.net with images and details available in a private viewing room. Artsy is the premier art gallery website with millions of views per day. 

Thomas Kelly is an award winning, New Jersey based painter. Widely collected, his work has a signature style, which has its roots in Expressionism. His colorful, narrative, acrylic paintings on canvas often create a dialogue with the viewer. His deceptively simplistic paintings are both critically acclaimed and very approachable by everyday viewers. More than 350 of Kelly’s original paintings have been collected. Kelly has exhibited in New Jersey, New York City, and Philadelphia. His work is in private and public collections in the US, Europe and Asia. 

“My paintings are of common scenes, every day occurrences in which people struggle to establish and maintain relationships," said Thomas Kelly. "It is these universal emotions and situations which most interest me.”

"I am not and do not wish to be the artist with the best technical skill, recreating realism that wows the masses," continued Kelly. "I wish to be the one who connects well with the way people feel. I wish to have the viewer say about themselves, when they see my art, 'This is about me, this is about my life.' This is how I wish to connect. The universal feelings that we all have is what I am trying to portray. 

In this exhibition, Thomas Kelly captures the childlike innocence and sunny atmosphere of our former playground days where we learned many of life’s most important skills.

 

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Kelly said this about "Schoolyard Forever".

"All I learned was first learned on the schoolyard. Respect, time management, personal relationship management, physical fitness, discipline, teamwork, problem solving and having goals were all learned in the schoolyard.

"The lunch period freedom, the recess with organized games and the lingering after school were all times in the schoolyard with a slightly different feel.

"I grew up a block from our elementary school and we used the schoolyard as an extension of our own yard. It was like our own yard but without our parents's oversight. After school and on weekends the kids ran the schoolyard. We played basketball, baseball, football and soccer. We threw frisbees, climbed the baseball backstops and climbed on the school roof to reclaim balls that we may have kicked up there during recess or lunch time."

"We played basketball under the streetlamp until way after dark. We rode our bikes on the painted tarmac and smoked cigarettes like adults. We were too cool for school but not after hours, that was our time.

"Schoolyards today may have safer equipment and lead to less broken arms, but the idea is still there. The idea of letting kids burn off energy and take a break from the mental requirements of the work of studying, is still valid. We copy these ideas as adults in various ways. We take strolls on work breaks, get in a run at lunch or play in organized leagues of genteel sport after work. We need these breaks, socializing and physical activity. We needed it then as we do now, and should have Schoolyard Forever." -- Thomas Kelly

Click here to view the exhibition.

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The Walter Wickiser Gallery was established in 1992 in Soho, New York. 

Wickiser's career as an art dealer formally began in 1990 in Soho, NY, when he became the director of the first gallery in the United States showing artists from mainland China. Today the focus has shifted to midrange and Post War international artists.