Bio/CV
Kelly Klaasmeyer is an artist and writer living in Houston, Texas. She received her MFA in painting from the University of Houston in 1992. After exploring the many exciting and lucrative employment opportunities available to recent MFA graduates, temporary office work chief among them, she spent the mid-nineties in St. Petersburg, Russia hanging out with unsavory characters, writing about art for the English language newspaper, living off credit cards and making art about post-communist consumer culture.
She moved back to Houston in 1998 and (in addition to working a lot of crummy jobs) began writing and drawing the cartoon “Chock Full o’ Angst” for the Houston Press. She had just gotten her George Bush caricature down when the strip was tragically canceled in early 2000. Saddened, Klaasmeyer, not unlike Anakin Skywalker, went over to the dark side. She found herself writing art criticism for the Press. Thirteen years later, she is still writing for the Press as well as other publications. She was the editor of Glasstire, the award-winning and Texas-centric online art journal from November of 2007 to February of 2013.
Inexplicably, she is also still making art. Most of it involves text although for a brief period, Klaasmeyer, like thousands of other artists who become moms, made art about motherhood. Although the artist lost a double-digit percentage of her cognitive ability through pregnancy, she is not yet so mentally damaged that the installations included womb or placental imagery. There was also a notable lack of raku. If you see her making art like that, please have her institutionalized – or exorcised.
Klaasmeyer lives with her barbecue-dependent husband Robb Walsh, their small, goofy children, Ava and Joe and their small, annoying dog, Annie.
Education
1995
International Sommerakademie für Buildende Kunst, Salzburg, Austria
1992
Akademie der Buildenden Künste, Vienna, Austria, Open Academy Program with Peter Halley, Thomas Lawson and Carel Visser
1992
MFA in Painting, University of Houston, Houston Texas
1988
BFA in Painting and Drawing, University of North Texas, Denton Texas
Writing and Editing
2007 – 2013
Editor of Glasstire, a nonprofit, Texas-centric online art magazine
2000 – Present
Freelance Art Critic for The Houston Press, Houston, Texas
2001 – Present
Freelance Art Writer
Art Lies, Cite: The Architecture and Design Review of Houston, Raw Vision, Rice Magazine, Sallyport, SPOT Magazine
1998 – 2000
Cartoonist, “Chock Full o’ Angst,” The Houston Press, Houston, Texas
1996 – 1997
Freelance Art Critic, St. Petersburg Times, St. Petersburg. Russia
Journalism Awards
2009
Grantee, Creative Capital/Warhol Foundation, Short-Form Writing
USC/Annenberg Getty Arts Journalism Fellowship
2004
Lone Star Award, First Place in Arts and Entertainment Criticism for the State of Texas, Houston Press Club
Art Awards, Grants, etc.
Art Awards
1995
Purchase Award, McNeese National Works on Paper Exhibition
The Wayfinding Project, Public Art Project, Cultural Arts Council of Houston
1994
The Big Show, Third Place, Lawndale Art and Performance Center, Houston, Texas
1994
Creative Artist Program Artist Project Grant, Cultural Arts Council of Houston, Houston, Texas
1992
Kimbrough Award, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas
The Dishman Competition, 2nd Place, Dishman Gallery, Beaumont, Texas
Friends of Art Scholarship, University of Houston, Houston, Texas
1991
Friends of Art Scholarship, University of Houston, Houston, Texas
1990
Friends of Art Scholarship, University of Houston, Houston, Texas
1989
Friends of Art Scholarship, University of Houston, Houston, Texas
Teaching Experience
2002
Instructor, Young Artist Apprenticeship Program, Blaffer Gallery, Houston, Texas
2000 – 2002
Instructor, Lee College, Beaumont, Texas. Studio art and art history
1994
Project Coordinator and Instructor, Houston, Texas. Collaborative installation with at-risk students.
1991 – 1996
Educational Assistant, Blaffer Gallery, Houston, Texas.
1990 – 1991
Teaching Fellow, University of Houston, Houston, Texas. Studio art.
Selected Exhibitions
2010
Outloud: A Word Based Exhibit: Bill Davenport, Joseph Havel, Rachel Hecker, Kelly Klaasmeyer, Tierney Malone, Aaron Parazette and Gabriela Trzebinski, PG Contemporary, Houston, Texas
2008
A Time for Change, Deborah Colton Gallery, Houston, Texas; curated by Catherine D. Anspon
2007
Post Natal Pile, (solo exhibition) The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvannia
Red Velvet : A case for domestic tranquility, Vine Street Studios, Houston, Texas
2005
The Affair @ the Jupiter Hotel, Portland, Oregon
Fashionistas IV, Poissant Gallery, Houston, Texas; curated by Catherine D. Anspon.
2003
Identity, Houston Community College-Northeast, Houston, Texas; curated by Daryl Lauster
2002
John Calabrese, Kelly Klaasmeyer, Anderson Wrangle, ArtScan Gallery/Rudolf Projects, Houston, Texas
2001
Million Dollar Hotel, Holiday Inn Select, Houston, Texas
Fast Food for Thought: Cartoons ‘n’ Art, ArtScan Gallery, Houston, Texas
2000
Souvenir, Denise Ramos Studios, Houston, Texas
1999
XCXL: Exquisite Corpse Extra Large, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, Texas
Dada You Dada Hou, ArtScan Gallery, Houston, Texas
Pachanga Show, Gallery 3A, Houston, Texas
Half & Half, Purse Building Studios, Houston, Texas
1998
Blurred Vision, Winter Street Art Center, Houston, Texas
1997
Tales and Artifacts from the Evil Empire, (solo exhibition) Lawndale Art Center, Houston, Texas
Stories and Artifacts from the Evil Empire, (solo exhibition) Purse Building Studios, Houston, Texas
Womensical, Takara Gallery, Houston, Texas
1996
New American Talent, Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, Texas; juror: Lisa Phillips, catalogue.
1996
Area Exhibition, Blaffer Gallery, Houston, Texas; jurors: Dana Fris-Hansen, Mary Miss, Luis Jimenez
1995
Assistant, Buro, Zurich, Switzerland; curated by Maurus Gmur and Urs Fischer
Schlussaustellung, Alte Saline, Salzburg, Austria
Bodies in Evidence, New Gallery, Houston, Texas
Con-Text, The Artist’s Loft, Galveston, Texas
McNeese National Works on Paper Exhibition, McNeese State University, juror: Peter Doroschenko, purchase award, catalogue.
Texas Art Celebration, 1600 Smith, Houston, Texas, juror: Marti Mayo
The Dishman Competition, Dishman Gallery, Beaumont, Texas; juror Ronnie McMurtrey
1994
Exquisite Corpse, McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas, Texas
The Big Show, Lawndale Art and Performance Center, Houston, Texas; juror: Tom Moody, third place award, catalogue.
Cross City Blowout, Daylong mobile exhibition in a U-Haul truck; organized by Arena Productions, Houston, Texas.
New American Talent, Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, Texas; juror: Adam Weinberg. Catalogue.
1993
Texas Biennial Exhibition, Fair Park, Dallas, Texas; jurors: Chris Crowden, Al Harris F., Benito Huerta, Marti Mayo. Catalogue.
True Arkansas Tales and Dead Pet Stories, River Oaks Theater, Houston, Texas
Frost Free, Sears Brand Central Appliance Department, Houston, Texas; organized by Arena Productions.
Amarillo Competition, Amarillo Art Center, Amarillo, Texas; juror: Jim Edwards
The Dishman Competition, Dishman Gallery, Beaumont, Texas; juror: Lynn Goode
1992
5 Amerikanse Kunstenaars, Sokucentrum, Ommen, The Netherlands; curated by Eddie Arrentson, Stichting Kunstwerk
1992
M.F.A. Exhibition, Blaffer Gallery, University of Houston, Houston, Texas
The Dishman Competition, The Dishman Gallery, Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas; juror, Marti Mayo, 2nd Place
New Zoo Review, Commerce Street Artist’s Warehouse, Houston, Texas; curated by Al Hermann.
Lectures, Talks and Curatorial Activities
2005
Poissant Gallery, Houston, Texas, artist’s talk
KUHF 88.7 FM, interviewed by Dean Dalton about the state of visual arts in Houston.
2003
University of Houston Art Department, visiting artist critique
2000
“Souvenir,” co-curated with Jeff Shore at Denis Ramos Studios, Houston, Texas
1999
“Shantyfest ’99,” curated exhibition of site-specific installations in a soon-to-be-demolished bungalow, Houston, Texas.
1998
“Slide Jam,” Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Texas, artist’s talk
1997
The Art League, Houston, Texas. Curator’s lecture for “Talented Americans” exhibition.
curated “Talented Americans,” 1997, The Art League, Houston, Texas
1995
Blaffer Gallery, Houston, Texas. UHReach Program lecture presented to the National Art Educators Annual Convention.
1995
Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Texas. “Elvis Bulletin Board,” Panel Discussant
1993
UHReach Slide Lecture, University of Houston, Houston, Texas
1991
Thesis Slide Lecture, University of Houston, Houston, Texas.