Artist and artists’ rights proponent Chapman Kelley dead at 88
Kelley’s commitment to supporting urgent grassroots issues in Dallas, Texas, compelled D Magazine to document it in its 1982 piece, “Will Development Spoil Oak Lawn?” referencing Kelley’s involvement in fighting for inner-city housing. First Lady Ladybird Johnson was moved to convey a signed personal note to Kelley, dated November 12, 1982, proclaiming, “…you are the real pioneer…” about his Wildflower Works self-funded public art. Visual artists Ed Paschke and Nancy became good friends with Kelley when he lived in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. The relationship lead to Paschke penciling in on his calendar, “Chapman’s” for a one-on-one meeting at Kelley’s art studio November 11, 2004. Prominently displayed at the Ed Paschke Art Center is Paschke’s wall calendar for the public to wonder about his unrealized aspirations, including helping Kelley in his fight for U.S. artists’ rights, his federal pioneering litigation against the Chicago Park District for its destruction of Kelley’s masterpiece environmental painting, Chicago Wildflower Works 1984 – 2004. Unfortunately, not long after their important rendezvous, Paschke passed on Thanksgiving Day.
In 2011 D Magazine published its second “Kelley” article, “Art Cops,” regarding his and Dallas art historian Sam Blain’s championing of artists’ rights. Mention is made of the tens of millions of dollars secret sale of a Mark Rothko Untitled (1961) painting deemed as “irrevocably promised” to the Dallas Museum of Art by private donors and documented as such in a hefty five-pound “Fast Forward” print catalog. It’s but one of many Dallas art world issues surfaced by Blain and Kelley. “Art Cops” concludes its piece with a warning: both men should be considered “dangerous” for their speaking truth to power!
The Tate Britain reached out to Kelley and informed him the museum was strongly considering inclusion of Kelley’s sustainable public artwork, the 66,000 sq. ft. noncommissioned Chicago Wildflower Works 1984 – 2004, in the museum’s 2011 online exhibition, The Gallery of Lost Art. Kelley was absolutely jubilant to learn the Tate was characterizing his effort as a “major work of contemporary art.” Ultimately however, the museum politely declined to include the artwork in its global immersive show, citing Kelley‘s cutting-edge visual artists’ rights litigation, the then-pending Kelleyv. Chicago Park District, which eventually landed in the lap of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Kelley was supremely confident in his role as predominant art advisor to a Dallas wife and husband team of private art collectors. Under his direct supervision they built an impressive collection of masterworks of Impressionist and modern art. Several years ago the collection was bequeathed, en masse, to the Dallas Museum of Art. In May 2018, the museum issued a gushing press release about that important bequest. Kelley’s keen “eye” and inimitable art world acumen proved advantageous to the DMA.
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