New Harmony Gallery hosts exhibition, Systems| Bodies| Parameters

The New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art will host the exhibition Systems | Bodies | Parameters, featuring abstract paintings by Chicago-based artist Kellie Romany, Saturday, October 9 through Saturday, November 13.

Two public events will be held in conjunction with the opening of this exhibition:

• An artist talk will be held at Kleymeyer Hall located in the lower level of the Liberal Arts Center, at the University of Southern Indiana's main campus on Thursday, October 7 at 4:30 p.m.
• A public opening reception will be held with the artist on Saturday, October 9 from 4 to 7 p.m., along with New Harmony Indiana's Second Saturday Gallery Stroll.

In Systems | Bodies | Parameters, Kellie Romany's works utilize the materiality of paint to investigate issues around identity, relationships and racial constructs. Using a color palette of skin tones, Romany's shapes and textures become metaphors for the body. As she intuitively shifts and turns the canvas, pigments and oils expand outwards and blend, bleed, clot and crack. Colors and textures emerge, suggesting the biological complexity of skin.

Kellie Romany is an abstract painter interested in bodily representation, materiality and the history of the painting process. Using a color palette of skin tones, Romany creates objects that act as a catalyst for discussion about human connections, femininity, race and the systems surrounding these themes. She received a Master of Fine Arts in painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2011 and a bachelor of fine arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2008. Romany has exhibited both nationally and internationally, including museum shows at the High Museum of Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and DePaul Art Museum.

This exhibition is made possible in part by the Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana, and the Indiana Arts Commission, which receives support from the State of Indiana and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art promotes discourse about and access to contemporary art in the southern Indiana region and is an outreach partner of the University of Southern Indiana. The gallery is located at 506 Main Street in New Harmony, Indiana. Regular hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, call 812-682-3156 or go to USI.edu/nhgallery.

For more information about New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art, contact Erin McCracken Merris, Marketing Specialist for USI Outreach and Engagement, at emccracken@usi.edu.