Kellen

//𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 (𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘢𝘳)// 2026 soil/concrete, wood, charcoal, candles, a burn 27’ x 3.5” x 5.5” for @kairat10000000 for my sisters, for all of us 📷 @alex_vanderheyden

𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘦, 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 2026 Wood, charcoal, clamp lights variable One of two pieces I made for @kairat10000000 second presentation Soulipsism. 📸 @nicholas.cowlen

Study for Hiding (the idea of “here” is as ineffable as ever) 2026 xerox, plastic, pen, post-it This work, and many others, is available in @theluminaryarts upcoming fundraiser, One Hundred² get tickets at the link in their bio

/let me know when you’re home (for el)/ 2026, four abstract street lights as tall as the ones on Cherokee Street, rammed soil/concrete, scrap wood, clamp lights, honeysuckle charcoal, four 13’ x 3.5” x 5.5” Each light corresponds to one of the four exposed I-beams present in @theluminaryarts The lights come on with the sunset and go off with the sunrise. The drawings demarcate some bodily flood line 50” up the lights. The marks synthesize bricks and rivers and maps and text. This work was made for Beneath the City, A World, an exhibition curated by the lovely @jameson_p_ to whom I owe many thanks for the opportunity to push myself in this way. Thanks also to @goldiegoat for coming through at the 11th hour to finish this work with me. This piece is dedicated to my bestie 🌙 📸 1, 3&4 @ferris_muellerz

Queer Ecologies II @charlottestreetfoundation View near entrance! First Slide (left to right): Katie Kaplan, Collab between Kellen Wright & myself, Justin Korver. Second slide: original destination for this piece, first displayed outside with @stndrdexhibitions part of @terrainexhibitions About Kellen & I's piece: This work was originally part of a six-month outdoor collaborative project by Reed and Wright at STNDRD in Granite City, Illinois. The project had two iterations, both initiated by Purple Window Gallery. The site includes a garden of native prairie species. Inspired by these plants, Reed created a pinched ceramic form using locally sourced Kansas City clay, low-fired to support its eventual return to the earth. Wright constructed a rammed-earth platform from St. Louis soil and foraged honeysuckle to produce charcoal, which fills the back pocket. Small and low to the ground, these gatherers become one of many species within a mutually flourishing ecosystem. The exhibition is a collaboration between The Waiting Room and Purple Window gallery, curated by Bianca Brandolino, Lily Erb, Maven Kennedy, and SK Reed. @purplewindowgallery @itsthewaitingroom Featuring: Bianca Brandolino @bianca.brandolino Maya Davis @mayabdavis Lily Erb @lilywelderb Eve Gordon @from.eves.studio Naomi Hamlin-Navias @allfishgotoheaven Kate Humphrey @kateweavesthings Missy IsaMoore @unrelaxedmissy , @petalsandironkc Linye Jiang @linye.j Katie Kaplan @pennysmasher Maven Kennedy @mkennedystudios Justin Korver @justincaseyourewondering Calder Kamin @calderful Emily Mulvaney @emily_mulvaney David Nasca @davnasca Lucas Nguyen @lucas_fiberarts SK Reed @sk__paints Oona Taper @oonataper Exer Thurston @baybey.baybye Kellen Wright @kellen__w Eli Brown @eli.m.brown First photo by @egschempf !

Queer Ecologies II opens March 21st at the Charlotte Street Foundation in Kansas City. Thank you Bianca Brandolino, Lily Erb, Maven Kennedy, and SK Reed for including my work in this conversation. Trail Cam Girl 2026 honeysuckle charcoal, single channel video, objects

angels in camo

Join us for a conversation with curator Jameson Paige and artists Jen Everett, Jesús Hilario-Reyes, Dalila Sanabria, and Kellen Wright.  Bridging sculpture, photography, video, installation, and performance in 𝑩̲̅𝒆̲̅𝒏̲̅𝒆̲̅𝒂̲̅𝒕̲̅𝒉̲̅ 𝒕̲̅𝒉̲̅𝒆̲̅ 𝑪̲̅𝒊̲̅𝒕̲̅𝒚̲̅, 𝒂̲̅ 𝑾̲̅𝒐̲̅𝒓̲̅𝒍̲̅𝒅̲̅, these artists engage the messy politics and materialities of memory. Together, they will discuss how each artist approaches queerness as a methodology for constellating a host of other concerns; where their works overlap and diverge. This program will move between a seated discussion and a roving conversation throughout the galleries. Saturday, March 7 | 2–4 PM Free, registration encouraged Link in bio

Lived In February 21st, 2026 A workshop hosted by @kellen__w and Melon Press exploring the infrastructure of our community through architectural rubbings and printmaking. How have our lives been impacted by the buildings we reside in and how do they hold memory? Create your own rubbings of historic buildings and turn them into abstract architectural zines Saturday at the Luminary!

A closer look at three works by three unique artists within 𝑩̲̅𝒆̲̅𝒏̲̅𝒆̲̅𝒂̲̅𝒕̲̅𝒉̲̅ 𝒕̲̅𝒉̲̅𝒆̲̅ 𝑪̲̅𝒊̲̅𝒕̲̅𝒚̲̅, 𝒂̲̅ 𝑾̲̅𝒐̲̅𝒓̲̅𝒍̲̅𝒅̲̅ Aru Apaza (@esunprocesoo ), Kellen Wright (@kellen__w ), and Zach Hill (@bottomaspirations ) approach street life as a realm composed of texture—surfaces worn, walked on, and built up over time. In Song for Lungs and Percussion, 2025 (slide 1), Aru Apaza fuses paint with quilted found fabrics—generating a blended perspective that speaks to sustenance through both image and surface. This textural world yields to an architectural intervention in Kellen Wright’s //let me know when you’re home (for el)//, 2025 (slide 2). Constructed from scrap wood, soil-concrete, clamp lights, and artist-made honeysuckle charcoal, //let me know leans into the gallery itself—framing dirt and light as mutually supportive. Zach Hill’s Bunny in a Concrete Balenciaga Poulaine, 2025 (slide 3) offers up a playful assemblage, combining sculpture and drawing into a single configuration. By juxtaposing representational and abstract gestures, Bunny purposefully resists resolution—existing as both subject and object, yet committing to neither. 👀 See these works up close during The Luminary’s weekly gallery hours through March 7. 🗓️ Thursdays 5–8 PM 🗓️ Fridays 12–6 PM 🗓️ Saturdays 12–4 PM 📍 2701 Cherokee St., St. Louis, MO 63118 𝑩̲̅𝒆̲̅𝒏̲̅𝒆̲̅𝒂̲̅𝒕̲̅𝒉̲̅ 𝒕̲̅𝒉̲̅𝒆̲̅ 𝑪̲̅𝒊̲̅𝒕̲̅𝒚̲̅, 𝒂̲̅ 𝑾̲̅𝒐̲̅𝒓̲̅𝒍̲̅𝒅̲̅, Curated by Jameson Paige (@jameson_p_ ), would not be possible without the generous support of the Teiger Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Regional Arts Council of St. Louis, and individual donors like you. #TheLuminary #BeneathTheCityAWorld #AruApaza #KellenWright #ZachHill

Lived In: A Drawing Workshop ✍️ “How are architecture and its principles utilized askew or retooled completely towards queer ends?” -Jameson Paige In conjunction with 𝑩̲̅𝒆̲̅𝒏̲̅𝒆̲̅𝒂̲̅𝒕̲̅𝒉̲̅ 𝒕̲̅𝒉̲̅𝒆̲̅ 𝑪̲̅𝒊̲̅𝒕̲̅𝒚̲̅, 𝒂̲̅ 𝑾̲̅𝒐̲̅𝒓̲̅𝒍̲̅𝒅̲̅, exhibiting artist Kellen Wright (@kellen__w ) and Melon Press (@melonpressstl ) founder Sophia Malone will lead a hands-on workshop focused on architectural rubbings, replication, zine folding, and wheat pasting. 🗓 Saturday, Feb 21, 2–4 PM 📍 The Luminary, 2701 Cherokee St 🎟️ $10 / Free for Members 🔗 Reserve your spot via the link in our bio 💬 Not a member? DM us to learn more Kellen will lead participants through The Luminary, offering context to the practice of rubbing and the building’s history as a starting point. Sophia will then demonstrate simple book making and binding. Participants will make their own books of rubbings—little archives to carry home, to reprint, to draw into, to cut up, to deface, to map, to annotate, etc. Featured Image: Kellen Wright, //let me know when you’re home (for el)//, 2025. Scrap wood, honeysuckle charcoal, soil concrete, clamp lights (detail view) 📸: Emily Mueller (@ferris_muellerz ) #TheLuminary #BeneathTheCityAWorld #KellenWright #MelonPress #STLart @jameson_p_

Ｂｅｎｅａｔｈ ｔｈｅ Ｃｉｔｙ， Ａ Ｗｏｒｌｄ is now open at @theluminaryarts My work has been formed by this city and is for the people I love that move through it. I’m grateful to be in such company. Thank you Lexi for helping me finish this project🦢🦢🦢you are a privilege to know and work with 🌻Thank you Kevin and Nicky and The Luminary team for the install support ✨Thank you Jameson for weaving me into this little world and to Kalaija for opening it all up To El and Alex and Dani and Emile, I love you🕯️