Weldon Kees was born in Beatrice, Nebraska in 1914. Painting in a high modernist and then an Abstract Expressionist style, Kees was a prominent figure in the New York art and literary world of the 40’s and early 50’s. For many years best known as a poet -- and he is indeed one of the most significant poetic voices of his generation. During his life as a painter, his work was shown alongside that of Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollack, Robert Motherwell and Hans Hoffman (not to mention Picasso and Miro) in Abstract Expressionist temples such as Peridot Gallery and Sam Kootz.  He was the subject of a solo exhibition at the Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco after his move there in 1951 in search of a place where the market had not absorbed the spirit of the new art, and his work Four A.M. was selected for inclusion in the 1950 Whitney Biennial.  His admirers included the most famous art critics and art historians of their day such as Harold Rosenberg, Clement Greenberg (whom he replaced as art critic at The Nation upon Greenberg's retirement), Hilton Kramer and Dore Ashton. His work is always characterized by a natural grace and fluidity and a sure sense of composition. It represents a valuable addition to the lexicon of American abstraction at mid-century, a voice that speaks with an unmuted vitality sixty years after his death and which, we strongly believe, will be a revelation to those unfamiliar with the work.

Weldon Kees's artistic accomplishments were multifarious, including nine published volumes of poetry, fiction and art criticism, experimental film, photography, jazz composition and performance and collaboration in scholarly and cultural projects with the likes of Gregory Bateson and James Broughton. His stunning paintings and collages have been the obscure province, and joy, of a small circle of cognoscienti for many years - as only approximately 50 works are documented, many residing in the Sheldon Museum of Art, little news of them reaches the outside world.  It is therefore our special pleasure and honor, to present what is certainly the largest exhibition of his work in a commercial gallery since his death.

A catalogue has been prepared to accompany the exhibition, including essays by Dore Ashton, Hilton Kramer, Francine Koslow Miller and Kees biographer, James Reidel.

 

Pierre Menard Gallery

10 Arrow Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

Hours of Operation: 12-6 pm
For further information please contact
Andrea Kalinowski, Director  

pierre@pierremenardgallery.com
617.868.2033