UIS Visual Arts Gallery presents “Pleasure Comes in Halves” by Milwaukee artist Thaddeus Kellstadt

The University of Illinois Springfield Visual Arts Gallery is pleased to present “Pleasure Comes in Halves,” a mixed-media installation by Milwaukee-based artist Thaddeus Kellstadt. The exhibition, featuring paintings, sculptures and videos, will open on Monday, January 14, and run through Thursday, February 14. A reception for the exhibit will take place on Thursday, January 24, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. in the Visual Arts Gallery.

Kellstadt arrived in Springfield at the start of the new year for a two-week stay that will allow him to develop new work on-site for this exhibit. He has been using the UIS Visual Arts Gallery as a studio while gathering materials for his work from various sources throughout the Springfield community. He has been staying at the Enos Park Residency for Visual Artists.

Of his work, Kellstadt says, “The structures I paint on are made primarily out of discarded wood. I pick through this discarded wood, to pull out the interesting shapes and forms. There is a lot of collecting in my process. I visit thrift stores looking for wooden animals, bowls and bric-a-brac to cut and fit into my structures. Collecting and reformation are vital parts of my work, and allow me create wonderful problems for myself with what I find. Constructing the forms is a cross between playing with building blocks and fitting together a puzzle. The process is a negotiation between my aspirations and the stubborn nature of the forms. Each step of the construction informs the next, with color being my ultimate instrument and negotiator.”

Kellstadt has shown his work nationally and internationally at a variety of venues including Space 1026, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Secret Project Robot, New York, New York; Heaven Gallery, Chicago, Illinois; High Desert Test Sites, Joshua Tree, California; DEMO Project, Springfield, Illinois; Alice Gallery, Brussels, Belgium; Cell Project Space, London, United Kingdom; SPACE, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Contemporary Art Museum & Lump Gallery, Raleigh, North Carolina; The Ski Club, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and screened work at The MCA, Chicago, Illinois; PDX Film Festival, Portland, Oregon; CPHDOX, Copenhagen, Denmark and The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The Visual Arts Gallery is centrally located on the UIS campus in the Health and Science Building, Room 201, and is open Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For more information, visit the UIS Visual Arts Gallery website at www.uis.edu/visualarts/gallery or contact the gallery by phone at 217/206-6506 or by email at alach@uis.edu.