September 14 – October 20, 2024
Gallery Route One presents Before Salt and Memory by GRO artist member Kelley Berg, a suite of paintings emerging out of a desire to focus not on our differences, but rather on the rich experiences we have in common; in this case, moving through the world in aging bodies.
The artist provides a summary of the exhibition by stating, “I am as guilty as the next person of participating in the current existential and divisive agita…and to be honest, I think it’s largely manufactured. Not that we don’t have differences; of course we do. And? Are they, must they be, the source of such discord? Such vitriol? Tired of the noise, my own included, and seeking alittle respite, I headed to the water. This body of work came out of that. I have waded all my life, on many coasts. I imagine that pretty much everyone who has ever been on a coast of any sort has done the same. Those moments, for me-and I am certain I’m not alone- are full of curiosity, delight, contemplative joy, peace. I thought, knee deep in cool saltwater, isn’t this also, and more deeply so, who I am? Isn’t this true? In my aging body, moving through…and if true for me, also true for everyone else?”
Kelley Berg is a multimedia artist living and working in Oakland and Inverness, CA. Berg’s practice areas are painting, printmaking, and drawing. The artist’s work is largely representational or abstractions thereof and relies heavily on happy mistakes.
