Elisabeth Kley
Elisabeth Kley (b. 1956, New York, NY) is known for her black and white ceramic sculptures, vessels, drawings, and site-specific paintings inspired by modernist theater sets and costume designs.
Her ceramics, paintings, and works on paper borrow geometric and plant motifs from a wide range of sources, including Wiener Werkstätte, Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballet Russe, and ancient Egyptian designs.
Artist: Studio
"I would say that my process is really quite obsessive. Although I strive to make things look as if effortlessly done in one breath, I don’t work quickly. Everything must be completely explored."
Artworks
Elisabeth Kley,
Planter with Stars,
2024,
15 ½ × 13 × 12 ¾ inches (39.37 × 33.02 × 32.39 cm)
Glazed earthenware
Elisabeth Kley,
Vessel Interrupted by Emptiness,
2023,
Glazed earthenware,
26 ½ × 14 × 10 ½ in (67.31 × 35.56 × 26.67 cm)
Elisabeth Kley,
Vessel with Long Neck and Arrow Flowers,
2023,
Glazed earthenware,
22 × 18 × 19 in (55.88 × 45.72 × 48.26 cm)
Elisabeth Kley,
Spots Climbing,
2023,
Acrylic and charcoal on canvas,
84 × 58 ½ in (213.36 × 148.59 cm)
Elisabeth Kley,
Installation with Night Garden,
2022,
Ink and graphite on paper,
19 × 24 in (48.26 × 60.96 cm)
Elisabeth Kley,
Idol,
2022,
Glazed earthenware,
43 ½ × 37 ¾ × 10 in (110.49 × 95.89 × 25.4 cm)
Elisabeth Kley,
Chacmool with Ladders,
2022,
Glazed earthenware,
47 ½ × 59 × 11 ½ in (120.65 × 149.86 × 29.21 cm)
Elisabeth Kley,
Drawing for Four Part Sculpture with Tulip,
2021,
Ink and graphite on paper,
20 ½ × 16 ¾ in (52.07 × 42.55 cm)
Elisabeth Kley,
Flowers and Arches on Two Legs,
2022,
Glazed earthenware,
42 × 28 × 11 in (106.68 × 71.12 × 27.94 cm)
Elisabeth Kley,
Checkered Fountain with Broccoli Columns,
2020,
Glazed earthenware,
33 × 11 ¾ × 11 ¾ in (83.82 × 29.85 × 29.85 cm)
Elisabeth Kley,
Red Fan Lotuses, Green Background,
2020,
Watercolor and graphite on paper,
17 × 14 in (43.18 × 35.56 cm)
Elisabeth Kley,
Egyptian Flower Mailbox Bottle,
2019,
Glazed earthenware,
19 ½ × 12 ½ × 12 in (49.53 × 31.75 × 30.48 cm)
Installation Views
Installation view, Independent Art Fair, New York, NY, 2024
Installation view, A Seat in the Boat of the Sun, Canada, New York, 2023
Installation view, A Seat in the Boat of the Sun, Canada, New York, 2023
Installation view, A Seat in the Boat of the Sun, Canada, New York, 2023
Installation view, A Seat in the Boat of the Sun, Canada, New York, 2023
Installation view, Minutes of Sand, Bemis Center For Contemporary Arts, Omaha, 2022
Installation view, Minutes of Sand, The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, 2021
Installation view, Garden: Elisabeth Kley and Tabboo!, Gordon Robichaux, New York, 2019
Installation view, Elisabeth Kley solo booth, Independent Art Fair, New York, 2018
Installation View, Elisabeth Kley and Sanou Oumar, South Willard, Los Angeles, 2019
Exhibitions
Publications
Minutes of Sand, Elisabeth Kley, 2023
Elisabeth Kley
Minutes of Sand, 2023
Elisabeth Kley, 2019
Elisabeth Kley, 2019
Press
Stephanie Sporn "10 Must-See Booths at Art Basel Miami Beach." Elephant December 9, 2023
David Colman "Elisabeth Kley." Artforum September 1, 2023
Johanna Fateman "Goings on about Town." The New Yorker May 1, 2023
Barbara MacAdam "Elisabeth Kley: A Seat in the Boat of the Sun." The Brooklyn Rail May 2023
Elaine Markoutsas "Pattern Play." WolfGordon March 1, 2022
Elizabeth Kley "Three Women." Hauser & Wirth January 30, 2022
"March Avery and Elisabeth Kley at Parts and Labor, Beacon NY (Review)." ArteFuse December 16, 2021
William Corwin "Elisabeth Kley: Minutes of Sand." The Brooklyn Rail July-August, 2021
Johanna Fateman "Johanna Fateman’s top ten highlights of 2020." Artforum December 1, 2020
Harry Tafoya "Two Artists Invite You to Bask in Their Garden." Hyperallergic November 5, 2019
Roberta Smith "Elisabeth Kley and Tabboo!." The New York Times October 30, 2019
Johanna Fateman "Elisabeth Kley and Tabboo!." The New Yorker October 1, 2019
Kat Herriman "Snowed Under: Armory Week 2018." Ocula March 16, 2018
David Cohen "War of Independence." artcritical March 11, 2018
"Interview with Alix Dana: Fair Director at Independent." BMW March 10, 2018
Will Heinrich "The Don’t-Misses at Independent and NADA." The New York Times March 8, 2018
"Elisabeth Kley - Episode 31." Deep Color Podcast January 21, 2018
Rachel Wetzler "Twenty Years of Canada." Independent Features January 1, 2018
Marina Cashdan and Casey Lesser "The 20 Best Booths at Frieze New York." Artsy May 5, 2017
Casey Lesser "These 20 Artists Are Shaping the Future of Ceramics." Artsy February 22, 2017
Zach Fischman "Elisabeth Kley." Little Star Weekly May 13, 2016
"Frieze was Fun, but is Damian Hirst’s Pickled Sheep Killing You?." Artsy May 5, 2016 Alanna Martinez
Josie Luciano "World of tomorrow." Reno News & Review April 28, 2016
Barbara A. MacAdam "Elisabeth Kley at Canada." ArtNews February 5, 2016
William Corwin "Elisabeth Kley Ozymandias." Brooklyn Rail February 5, 2016
James Panero "Gallery Chronicle." The New Criterion February 1, 2016
David Cohen "Cyborg’ at Zürcher Gallery, ‘Devotion’ at Catinca Tabacaru Gallery." Artcritical December 29, 2015
Cate McQuaid "In Provincetown: cinematic sweep, alluring dunes, hidden patterns." Boston Globe September 1, 2015
Steve Desroches "Tomorrowland: Harum Scarum at Albert Merola Gallery." Provincetown Magazine August 15, 2015
Jacob Kiernan "Translucent Threads of Dawn by Elisabeth Kley." On-Verge July 21, 2015
Howard Halle "Check out summer's top group exhibitions in NYC." TimeOut July 20, 2015
Jonathan Stevenson "Elisabeth Kley and Conrad Ventur: Improbable harmony at Regina Rex." Two Coats of Paint July 17, 2015
Michael Anthony Farley and Corinna Kirsch "We Went to Regina Rex and 247365." Art F City July 9, 2015
"Elisabeth Kley." Gorky’s Granddaughter May 1, 2015
Will Corwin "Elisabeth Kley." The Interview Show: Clocktower Radio January 26, 2015
Thomas Micchelli "More Now than Then: When Art Reaches Back." Hyperallergic August 16, 2014
Michael Bilsborough "Hybrid States." SVA Continuing Education Blog August 13, 2014
Eric Sutphin "Review: Anthropocene at Canada." Painting is Dead August 5, 2014
Hrag Vartanian "NADA New York Does It Better Than Ever." Hyperallergic May 10, 2014
Ben Davis "Finding Something at NADA New York." Artnet May 9, 2014
Ian Wallace "This Clay’s On Fire! Behind the Surprising New Renaissance in Ceramic Art." Artspace Magazine April 17, 2014
Elisabeth Kley "The Textile Ceramic: Elisabeth Kley at Volta N." Installation Magazine March 12, 2014
Benjamin Sutton "The Imaginations Runs Wild at Volta NY 2014." Artnet March 7, 2014
Walter Robinson "Art Show Anxiety: An Artist's-Eye View From Inside the Whitney Biennial and Armory Week." Artspace Magazine March 7, 2014
Robin Cembalest "29 Artists With Their Work at New York Art Fairs." Artnews March 7, 2014
G. Roger Denson "Women Artists Sweep Best of 2010 NYC Arts." Huffington Post December 8, 2013
Rachel Cole Dalamagas "Interview: Elisabeth Kley." zingmagazine August 1, 2013
A. MacAdam "Nude Descending Staircase: An Homage." Artnews April 1, 2013
S. Schmerler "Modern and Contemporary Ceramics." Art in America May 1, 2010
"French Kiss." Paris Capitale June 1, 2007
B. Pollock "Elisabeth Kley." ARTnews April 1, 2007
Roberta Smith "Art in Review: Elisabeth Kley - Momenta Art." The New York Times February 16, 2007
Walter Robinson "Weekend Update." Artnet Magazine March 9, 2004
L. Wei "Kismet." ARTnews November 1, 2002
Ken Johnson "Kismet." The New York Times September 6, 2002
Walter Robinson "Weekend Update." Artnet Magazine February 20, 2001
CV
Elisabeth Kley
b. 1956, New York, NY
Lives and works in New York, NY
Education
BA, Empire State College
Solo and Two Person Exhibitions
2024
Hello Faun, Cooper Cole, Toronto, ON
Cymodocea, Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH
2023
A Seat in the Boat of the Sun, CANADA, New York, NY
2022
Solo installation, Art Collaboration Kyoto, Kyoto International Conference Center Event Hall, Kyoto, Japan
2021
Minutes of Sand, The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, PA (traveled to Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, NE)
2019
Garden, Elisabeth Kley and Tabboo!, Gordon Robichaux, New York, NY
Elisabeth Kley, Window on Broad, Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Elisabeth Kley and Sanou Oumar, organized by Matt Connors, South Willard, Los Angeles, CA
2018
Solo booth with CANADA, Independent Art Fair, New York, NY
2017
Flowers out of Water,Pierre Marie Giraud, Brussels, Belgium
2016
Ozymandias, CANADA, New York, NY
2015
translucent threads of dawn (two-person exhibition with Conrad Ventur), Regina Rex, New York, NY
A Sign of Eternal Beauty (two-person exhibition with Florence Derive), Gavlak, Palm Beach, FL
2014
Red Lotus Sun with Yellow Face, 39 Great Jones, New York, NY
Triple Masquerade: Ink Drawings, Vessels, Notebooks, Schema Projects, Brooklyn, NY2012
The Queen’s Feathers, John Tevis Gallery, Paris, France
2011
Peacocks and Bottles, organized by Nana Kipiani in conjunction with Artisterium, The Georgian National Museum Dimitry Shevarnadze National Gallery, Tbilisi, Georgia
Forever and Never, One More Time (two-person exhibition with Shannon MacConnell), Season, Seattle, WA
2010
Birdbaths and Birdhouses, Le Petit Versailles, New York, NY
2009
Bazvalon, Rose Burlingham Projects, New York, NY
2007
Momenta Art, Brooklyn, NY
2001
Your Humble Servant the Genius (two-person exhibition with Rob Wynne), Rupert Goldsworthy Gallery, New York, NY