
Elisabeth Kley: Minutes of Sand
Minutes of Sand, Elisabeth Kley’s first solo museum show organized by
the Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM), features an entirely new body of work.
Invited to print yardage utilizing FWM’s world-renowned screenprinting
facilities, Kley interweaved her ceramic and painting practices with three new
yardage designs and a new suite of ceramic sculpture for the exhibition.
Elisabeth Kley’s work sits at the distinctive
confluence of pattern, decoration, and contemporary art. Known for her
black-and-white patterns featured in ceramics, drawings, paintings, and
site-specific installations, the artist draws inspiration from motifs featured
in ornamentation, architecture, interior decoration, and a myriad of global art
traditions. Merging the ancient and modern, Kley translates these fragments
into an interdisciplinary practice conveying ideas of opulence and mystery.
“Elisabeth Kley looks for inspiration from global art and architecture histories,” states curator Karen Patterson. “Islamic tile work from Central Asia, Spain, and North Africa can be seen in her geometric and floral patterns. Her bold, abstract lines are inspired by Roman frescoes and mosaics, Egyptian hieroglyphics, or Coptic, Indian and Wiener Werkstätte textile designs. And yet she conveys these motifs with a contemporary edge, one that feels both handmade and in motion.”
The new yardage designs developed in collaboration with FWM for Minutes of Sand present a distinct but complementary trio unified by their vibrant colors and graphic patterns. Each was printed on-site during Kley’s screenprinting residency, part of an initiative by Patterson to reignite residencies similar to those foundational to FWM in the 1970s. The exhibition also presents a new series of ceramic works developed in the artist’s Brooklyn studio. Standing in contrast to the exuberant colors in the yardage, these new ceramics are painted in Kley’s signature black-and-white style.
Elizabeth Kley: Minutes of Sand is organized by the Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia.



About the Artist
Elisabeth
Kley (b. New York) received her BA from Empire State College and studied at
Hunter College. Her ceramics, watercolors, drawings and prints have been
featured in an exhibition history spanning over 25 years; recent solo and
two-person exhibitions include Garden: Elisabeth Kley and Tabboo!, Gordon Robichaux, New York, NY (2019); Elisabeth Kley, Window on Broad, Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery,
University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA (2019); Flowers Out of Water, Pierre Marie Giraud,
Brussels, Belgium (2017); Ozymandias,
CANADA, New York, NY (2016); translucent
threads of dawn (with
Conrad Ventur), Regina Rex, New York, NY (2015); and A Sign of Eternal Beauty (with Florence Derive),
GAVLAK, Palm Beach, FL (2015). She is represented by CANADA; the gallery
published a monograph on her work with Pre-Echo Press in 2019. Kley lives in
Manhattan and works in Brooklyn.
Elizabeth Kley: Minutes of Sand is organized by the Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia.
GET MORE ART IN YOUR INBOX
Contemporary Arts
724 S. 12th Street
Omaha, NE 68102
402.341.7130
info@bemiscenter.org