artist 003
Kelly Breez
Commissioner x Kelly Breez
filmed by Jorge Graupera
Kelly Breez (b. 1985, Lake Worth, FL) is Miami-based artist with a BFA from the New World School of the Arts. Working mostly monochromatically, she weaves a sharp eye for subtle humor into her work, acting like a mirror to the absurdities of life. With an uncanny attention to detail and the likeness of a sponge, Kelly naturally absorbs the nuances of the unpredictable tropical wasteland she calls home.
Commissions include public works by American luxury brand Shinola, Detroit as well as a series of illustrations for OBEY Clothing (founded by Shepard Fairey). Kelly is also the recipient of the ProMax BDA Gold Medal for Outstanding Creative Direction and Design: SundanceTV.
Kelly often works with hefty materials like wood and epoxy, in part influenced by her participation in the restoration of her father’s sailboat, and as “a nod to all the previously lived, long Florida nights. A celebration of the hazy memories found in the pennies, shells, and beer caps preserved inside the resin of the many bar-tops you discover throughout the tropics.”
She is represented by Miami-based gallery Primary.
Currently pieces of her ongoing painting series of “How-to” books can be seen at The Soho Beach House in Miami Beach.
In March 2017 PRIMARY presented Kelly Breez – “Fuck It Will Set You Free”, her first solo exhibition with the gallery. The show featured selections from a body of work from 2016 – 2017.
Kelly explains, “Fuck It Will Set You Free is a collection of works that represent my belief in artistic / personal liberation in the face of convention. The future is unknown, which leaves room for adventure and mystery. Calculated moves shut out possibilities, Fuck It is about affirming your power to do stuff people might not understand. It’s playful, it’s stubborn.”
Through a collection of resin covered illustrations on wood, with a visual aesthetic loosely compared to the likes of Raymond Pettibon or Margaret Kilgallen, Kelly combines a California state of mind with her South Florida tropical upbringing.