2021 Microcosmos | Talon Gallery | Portland, OR
2020 Still | Hashimoto Contemporary | San Francisco
2016 Soft Serve | Stranger Factory | Albuquerque, New Mexico
2011 The Secret State | 111 Minna Gallery | San Francisco
2010 Out and About | Giant Robot | New York, NY
2009 Sea of Love | 111 Minna Gallery | San Francisco, CA
2005 Old Soul | Future Primitive Sound San Francisco, CA
2004 Fragile | Robert Casterline Gallery New York, NY
2004 Remedios | 111 Minna Gallery | San Francisco, CA
2003 Little Seekers | J&M Davidson | London, UK
2002 Princesses, ballerinas, Strippers | 111 Minna Gallery | San Francisco, CA 2002
2002 Handbag Girls | Gallery 5b | Hackney, London, UK
2021 Sprit Club | BlackBook Gallery | Denver, CO
2020 FUTUREPROOF | Talon Gallery | Portland, Oregon
2019 PMA | 111 Minna Gallery | San Francisco
2019 Out of Sight | Talon Gallery | Portland, Oregon
2019 Amongst Friends | Hashimoto Contemporary | New York , NY
2018 Preservation | Luggage Store Gallery | San Francisco
2018 My Monsters | Stranger Factory | Albuquerque
2017 The Space Between | Artists in Residence | deYoung Museum | San Francisco
2017 Closer | Spoke Art | San Francisco
2016 WISH YOU WERE HERE | ell.sf | San Francisco
(as Day Dreamers Limited, with Howard Cao)
2016 Aquatics | Artists Republic | Laguna Beach
2016 Food Faces | Rare Device | San Francisco
(as Day Dreamers Limited, with Howard Cao)
2015 Holding Pattern | 111 Minna Gallery | San Francisco
2015 Inside Voices | FFDG | San Francisco
2014 Floating World Part Two | Antler Gallery | Portland Oregon
2014 Floating World Part One | White Walls | San Francisco
2013 Loading | FFDG | San Francisco
2012 Edible Complex | FFDG | San Francisco
2010 Untitled | FTC | Tokyo, Japan
2008 Reconstruction | Limited Addiction Gallery / David B. Smith | Denver, CO
2008 Circus | 111 Minna Gallery | San Francisco, CA
2007 Subterranea | Fuse Gallery New York, NY
2006 Saints and Sinners | 111 Minna Gallery | San Francisco, CA
2020 DeYoung Open | De Young Museum
2020 Last Gasp Anniversary show | 111 Minna Gallery | San Francisco
2013 20th Anniversary | 111 Minna | San Francisco
2011 Bitches Brew | Park Life
With Aiyana Udesen, Marci Washington, Hellen Jo and Rebecca Ebeling.
Co-Curated by Marci Washington and Kelly Tunstall
2010 FECAL FACE 10 year anniversary | Luggage Store Gallery | San Francisco
2009 Kokeshi | Japanese American National Museum
2009 Trace Elements | San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery
2006 Hopscotch | Giant Robot 2 | Los Angeles
2018–2022 FOG Fair Installation, A16 Restaurant | Fort Mason
2017 De Young Museum, San Francisco
2020 Space Program, San Francisco
HONORARIUMS
2021 Svane Family Foundation Grant
2020 San Francisco Arts Commission
2020 Paint the Void
2019 Artist Partner, Hospitality House, THHE AUCTION
2018 POW!WOW! Mural Festival Honolulu, Invited artist
BIO
Kelly Tunstall was born in 1979 and received her BA from California College of the Arts and Crafts in 2002. In stylized figural works, Tunstall deals with the contrast between a compositional, portrait-like formality and a more casual revelation of method.
In her solo practice, Tunstall creates stylized portraits of mermaids, twins, and other creatures which desire to exist beyond the limitations of the medium of painting; a microcosm of the modern world at large; inhabited by people as they seem, where the paintings function as a mirror of our most fantastic selves, or as we exist in dreams. Tunstall consistently employs visual shorthand; universal symbols and fables which call on universal themes.
Tunstall works in San Francisco, where she works frequently in collaboration with her husband, Ferris Plock.
The pair’s collaborative work is centered around characters and their worlds. Their tandem studio practice encourages evolving mediums and methods. Through a variety of mediums including acrylic, watercolor, spray paint, ink, gold or silver leaf and collage, Tunstall and Plock create highly detailed works, often character-based paintings, on wood panels. Exhibits can also include installation, video, or sculptural components.
The binary contrast of masculine and feminine as a major theme in their work is also a very real and personal visual conversation between their imagined realities. Enhanced by complex, delicate layers, Tunstall’s bold pieces exist not only as individual pieces, but as part of larger installations or site-specific works.
Additionally, Tunstall has been involved in solo and group exhibitions in Tokyo, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, and has participated in exhibitions in Tokyo, Mexico City, London, Paris, and Miami. Her work is permanently featured in
San Francisco’s Michelin-starred restaurant SPQR, A16 (San Francisco, Rockridge, and Tokyo) and featured at boutique hotel Alcazar and restaurant Cheeky’s, located in Palm Springs.