Kevin Clay, One Last Look Through the Tall Grass, 2022, charcoal on MDF panel

The Art Museum of Southeast Texas (AMSET) is excited to present KEVIN CLAY- Sleep Among the Trees May 19 – August 14, 2022 in AMSET’s Café Arts series for local artists. On Sunday, June 5, from 2 - 4 p.m., AMSET will host an artist’s reception that is free and open to the public.

Kevin Clay was born and raised in Southeast Texas and attended Lamar University where he studied Communications with an emphasis in film. Although he does not have a formal Fine Arts education, he has spent time studying through various sources including books, the internet and free lectures from the MFA Boston.

Clay draws inspiration from fashion, like vintage Balenciaga and Givenchy, as well as painters and other artists, particularly the works of Lucien Freud, Antonio Lopez Garcia and David Hockney. The pervasive theme is the translation of memories into drawings inspired from life’s experiences.

Clay works in oil, pastels, colored pencils and graphite. He is drawn to tactile materials that show their mark making and texture. His art emphasizes the beauty of mundane objects that fill his life and the lives of others.

In this exhibition, Clay is using charcoal to abstractly re-create Southeast Texas tree lines as he remembers them from different moments in his life. He wishes to create the interplay between remembered landscapes and remembered figures. This show will include portraits of people in his life as well as strangers. He hopes that visitors can take time to pause and reflect on their own memories and experiences and the people and landscapes that inspire them in their own lives.

For more information, visit www.amset.org or call (409) 832-3432.