Kelly Falzone Inouye is an artist from California based in San Francisco. Her genre is watercolor to explore contemporary culture. Kelly has been awarded public art projects by the San Francisco Arts Commission and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and was a finalist for the Creative Capital award in 2015.
During the pandemic, she was actively creating new pieces based on Pop culture and especially those who made MTV.
Those pieces will be on show in an exhibition called “MTV Generation”. It features imposing renditions of Madonna, Michael Jackson, Duran Duran, Boy George, Prince and the Revolution, Twisted Sister, Janet Jackson and Public Enemy. The paintings—supported by a grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission—are presented in the chronological order (1981–1989) of the moments and videos Inouye based them on. And while most of her subjects were the biggest stars of the decade, that’s not the only reason Inouye selected them.
As Michael Jackson made MTV, of course Kelly painted his in the most famous short film ever made: “Thriller”:
As part of the exhibition, Janet Jackson made it to the wall too:
MTV Generation will be on view at Marrow Gallery from May 4th through June 4th, 2022 with an opening reception scheduled for Saturday, May 7th 5-8pm. As part of the exhibition, Inouye will invite viewers to record their own memories of MTV. Contributions will be compiled in book format for future publication.
Links: Marrow Gallery / Kelly Inouye website / Kelly Inouye Instagram
EYES ON: Nashid Chroma / Lyubov Phillipson / Nathan Hernandez / Alex Ivanchak / Flintbricksproduction & Yerr Studios / Robert Sgarra / Lu Lu / Brothers Rajwinder Singh Sidhu and Gurwinder Singh Sidhu / Steve Birnbaum / Adnan Lotia / Kyès / Patrice Murciano / Manuel Díaz Domingo / Ard Gelinck / Nicole Miller / LaMarina Art / Reagan Corbett / David Ngwerume / DUANE SHOOTS TOYS / Jorge Ávila / Laurence M White / Bradley Hart / Pablo Lobato / D43 / Simone Dell’Aglio / Mockstars / Jerome Bourgeot / Georgia Duhh / Guillaume Nicollet / Yann Dalon / MIDICHI / DDA/ Marcus White