MSU Galleries host two new solo exhibitions from Tennessee-based artists Kevin Bradley and Thomas Riesing

MURRAY, Ky. – The Murray State University Galleries and the Department of Art & Design are pleased to present two new solo exhibitions. “Voo Doo Rocket” featuring recent work by Greeneville, Tennessee-based artist Kevin Bradley is currently on view in the Eagle Upper Gallery through Feb. 17. “Recent Drawings & Prints” featuring recent work by Knoxville, Tennessee-based artist Thomas Riesing is currently on view in the Clara M. Eagle Gallery through Feb. 20.

Bradley first experimented with printmaking while studying graphic design, printmaking and painting in the early 90s. By engaging methods and principles from all three disciplines, Bradley formed his own iconic style. At the culmination of his formal education, Bradley concluded, “Painting was the best vehicle for his creative expression, that printing was an ideal means for mass-production and that the computer was the devil’s work.” 

His work has been instrumental in redefining the idea of contemporary letterpress in America, from his early days at Hatch Show Print in Nashville, Tennessee, to his more than 20 year run as the founder of Yee-Haw Print Industries in Knoxville, Tennessee, Church of Type in Santa Monica, California, and his recent studio and print shop Voo Doo Rocket in his hometown of Greeneville, Tennessee.

“This type I’m using is from the 1850s. I’ve got some stuff from 1730 from Paris. As far as I know, it’s the oldest stuff I got, but it’s the real beautiful stuff, handmade into lead pieces,” he said. “You can imitate it with your cool, black pixels, but it’s nothing like real letterpress pressed into a page.”

Bradley has devoted his life to the preservation of letterpress printmaking and the idea of turning graphic design into a fine art by making letterpress editions by hand. He has made editions professionally since 1993, starting at Hatch Show Print, then founding Yee-Haw Industries, then moved to Santa Monica to open the Church of Type and now back in Tennessee as Voo Doo Rocket. Bradley mostly works in small editions that are completely hand-made using real handset letterpress type, hand-carved woodblocks and some precise additions of paint by hand that create one-of-a-kind pieces, as well. 

Drawing is an essential component of Riesing’s studio practice. Riesing utilizes drawing not only as a means to develop ideas before and during the creative process, but also as independent works of art. Materially they include graphite, silverpoint, ballpoint pen and printmaking techniques. The graphite drawings allow for erasing and reduction while the silverpoint drawings require a more deliberate subtle approach to image and surface development. “THOMAS RIESING: Recent Drawings & Prints” features a selection of 45 recent works that spotlight Riesing’s creative interests.

Riesing attended University of Nebraska in Lincoln, where he received both a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Fine Arts in art and art history. Riesing has frequently traveled to museums and academies in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong and was honored as a permanent visiting professor at Sichuan University. He is also Professor Emeritus at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.

The University Galleries visitor hours for spring 2025 are Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission to the galleries is free and open to the public. The University Galleries are located on the sixth and seventh floors of the Price Doyle Fine Arts Center. For more information about the Department of Art & Design, visit murraystate.edu/art or follow them on Instagram @murraystateart.