Guillermo H. Kelly
October 5–November 3, 2023
Coyotes Under the Desert Sun, 2023, Oil on canvas, 24" x 18".
Guillermo H. Kelly, a native of Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico, has an extensive background in art. He began drawing at the age of six and a year later received his first set of oils and painting lessons from a neighborhood artist who took an interest in young Guillermo’s artistic abilities. By age eleven Guillermo had won an art school scholarship to the renown Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes (I.N.B.A.) in Mazatlán, from which he graduated in 1978.
Guillermo Kelly’s art is influenced by the Mazatlán of his youth and by Mexican artistic traditions. Mazatlán is a port town that was bordered by jungle and is often in the path of hurricanes. Guillermo grew up on a ranch amid cows, horses, dogs, cats, snakes, scorpions and tarantulas. The sea, the landscape and the surrounding animal life, such important features of his childhood, would later find their way into his artwork.
Guillermo’s family included many musicians. As a youngster he was a keen observer of the traditional costumes and body paint used by the Matachines, groups of indigenous dancers that included his mother. Guillermo’s artistic sensibilities were also greatly influenced by the music he heard played within his family circle and on the streets of Mazatlán, by the sounds of his environment and by the huge carnival culture of the city.