Ada-Ruth Kellow is a figurative painter. Her subject matter lies in the uncomfortable, the unspeakable and she shares Susan Sonntag’s view that “we can’t be haunted enough”. Kellow continues the long list of social critique painters like Goya, Gericault, Munch, Golub… In her work of realistic rendering, she also uses metaphors and symbols and lets the brush rest in ornamental patterns, which she sees as a form of consolation. The painter invites the viewer to follow traces to understand the narrative unfolding. Within the radical process of confrontation and consolation, she adds comical moments, like throwing a bone to the growling dog, who wants to be teased only to a certain extent.
confrontation&consolation
2022
Oil paintings and mixed media