Michael John Kelly & Rachel Eulena Williams

68projects by GALERIE KORNFELD presents in cooperation with Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e.V. two artists from the 68projects residency program

68projects is pleased to present a duo exhibition featuring Los Angeles–based artist Michael John Kelly and New York–based artist Rachel Eulena Williams. Kelly’s large-scale paintings and drawings, as well as Williams’ object-like works, were all created during their stay in Berlin as part of the 68projects residency program. The exhibition offers insight into both artistic practices and reflects the influence that time spent in Berlin had on their work.

At the invitation of Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e.V., Michael John Kelly spent two months in Berlin as a Berlin Fellow. For his stay, Kelly brought more than forty digital paintings on paper, which he gradually tore apart over the course of the residency. His art, situated between digital drawing, video art, and classical abstract painting, refers to an entire era of artistic practice. Rather than translating digital painting back into an analogue form, Kelly seeks to connect the two media and make them experientially intertwined.

Rachel Eulena Williams likewise explores the conditions and possibilities of the classical medium of painting. She deconstructs the rectangular canvas by combining it with ropes and fabrics—often objects she found during her stay in Berlin—to create her own pictorial surfaces. The formal boundaries of her works are often blurred, and the exposed creative process becomes an integral part of the work’s narrative. Fragmented, constructed canvases bear witness to their own making: rope connections weave visual threads, while open spaces function as points of tension or moments of calm.

Through this approach, the temporality of the materials becomes apparent. Williams’ works consciously resist traditional definitions of drawing, painting, or sculpture, deliberately provoking habitual ways of seeing. Which expectations the works meet—and which they do not—remains open. The viewer is invited to answer these questions, forming a wide associative network across artistic genres.

It is this recurring process of collecting, arranging, and assembling that connects both artists—a process that continually begins anew. Through their material presence, the works of Michael John Kelly and Rachel Eulena Williams become quiet witnesses to their contemporary life worlds. Beyond materiality, they capture the emotions of their creators and open a subjective space that viewers may explore through abstract form.

Michael John Kelly (born 1975) studied painting at Brigham Young University in Provo and at UCLA in Los Angeles. His works have been shown in numerous exhibitions across the United States and are included in renowned collections such as the Susan and Michael Hort Collection (New York), the Gayle and Stanley Hollander Collection (Los Angeles), and the Carole Server and Oliver Frankel Collection (New York).

Rachel Eulena Williams (born 1991) received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Cooper Union College in New York. She has participated in numerous exhibitions worldwide, including in San Francisco, Luxembourg, Toronto, New York, and Stockholm. Williams also regularly takes part in international fellowship programs.

The podcast of the artist talk held on May 17, 2018, between Michael John Kelly and art historian and curator Katharina Weinstock is available on the 68projects website.

Representatives of 68projects / Galerie Kornfeld Berlin are happy to assist with further information or to provide printable images upon request.