STUDIO VISIT: Artist Kelcey Fisher (KFiSH) Prepares for His Upcoming Collaborative Show, BLEND, at The Rendon Gallery : Cartwheel Art

STUDIO VISIT: Artist Kelcey Fisher (KFiSH) Prepares for His Upcoming Collaborative Show, BLEND, at The Rendon Gallery

Posted by Lisa Beebe

Los Angeles artist Kelcey Fisher, a.k.a. KFiSH, invited Cartwheel Art into his Downtown Los Angeles studio in advance of his collaborative show BLEND, which opens to the public on Friday, January 25, 2019. BLEND is the first show to take place in The Rendon Gallery, a new art gallery located inside the historic Rendon Hotel (2055 E. 7th Street, Los Angeles).

The pop-up show, which will be open to the public for only two days, features large-scale paintings made by Fisher in collaboration with artists Armando Dela Torre, Colette Miller, Davia King, Erin Yoshi, Gabe Gault, Kyle Boatwright, Martellus Bennett, Moncho 1929, Priscilla Carpenter Witte, Ralph Ziman, Shplinton, Tiaan Schreuder, Vero Villareal Sada, Yanoe, Zachary Bennett-Brook, and more.

Top: Artist Kelcey Fisher by Mark Dektor Photography, Above: Detail of KFiSH’s collaboration with Tiaan Schreuder

Fisher was one of the artists involved in Art at the Rendon’s Hidden Rooms in June 2018, and he’s looking forward to arranging the BLEND artwork in the new gallery. He says, “One wall is brick and we’re not going to paint that, and there are still the metal backdrops, too. So as we curate it, we can place the pieces where they look the best. Some might look better on the brick, and some might look better against a white wall. It’s really cool to have a space that we can curate around the styles.”

Many of the BLEND collaborations are currently in Fisher’s studio, waiting to be transported to The Rendon Gallery. Other completed works are soon to be hung in the Santa Monica Water Garden, and he’s planning ahead for future projects as well. On a rare rainy day in Los Angeles, the skylights in Fisher’s studio bring in little sunlight, but the vivid colors of his work brighten the space.

Kelcey Fisher with a piece of mixed-media artwork that will soon be on display at the Santa Monica Water Garden. Photo: @kfishla

Detail of KFiSH’s butterfly artwork. Photo by Rachele Friedland

Several of the artists involved in the show worked together on a previous collaborative project in Nipton, California, and expressed interest in working together again. With BLEND, Fisher saw an opportunity to make that happen—and the show grew from there. “I’m really looking forward to it. I wasn’t expecting it to be this big, when we were out in Nipton talking about collaborating.”

Detail of KFiSH’s collaboration with Davia King

Fisher says many of the artists he works with involve each other in their projects as a way to support each other. “I’m just trying to build a community where everything is transparent, and the artists take care of each other, without all the agencies and all that bullshit.”

Detail of KFiSH’s collaboration with Yanoe

The first piece made for this show was a movie-inspired collaboration with Gabe Gault painted back in August. Fisher says, “He does ‘80s themed pieces and my colors are there, too. We were like, ‘What kind of imagery could we use?’ and we went back to our favorite movies from childhood.” (See the completed work, a total pop culture flashback, at BLEND.)

Throughout the process of creating work for The Rendon Gallery show, Fisher has been sharing photos and videos from the various collaborations, shot by Zach Bell, on Instagram. He says, “Right from the beginning, I was like, ‘Zack, we need you to film and photograph everything.’” For a sneak peek at some of the full pieces from BLEND, and to learn more about how it all came together, go to @kfishla.