For his new “Your Name Might Come Up” exhibit, Kevin Assam uses outrageous excerpts to create art

One of 30 artworks created by Kevin Assam to memorialize the unforgettable utterances of some of Key West’s most interesting characters.

Kevin Assam is widely recognized as an irreverent writer who conducts interviews that blend humor and absorbing insights. He’s also a vault of outrageous comments collected from unforgettable exchanges, parties, watering holes and “dubious back alleys.” What to do with all these uttered but untethered treasures? Turn them into art, he decided. “Bright, in-your-face, stylish art.”

Now Kevin is ready to present a collection of 30 vivid canvases plastered with neon graphic catechisms in a show titled “Your Name Might Come Up,” hosted by The Studios of Key West, 533 Eaton St. The show launches with an opening reception 5:00-8:00pm, Thursday, April 7, in the 2nd Floor Zabar Lobby Gallery,

and runs through Thursday, April 28.

Each of Kevin’s colorful verbal mayhem-inducing works are “attributed to and named after” local personalities, ranging from fashion savant Q-Mitch Jones, TSKW artistic director Erin Stover-Sickmen, The Flaming Buoy Filet Co. gents, to philanthropist George Fernandez. The artist has quietly been building buzz for his debut show among “local luminaries, art devourers, and those who definitely crushed it in the 90s.”

Will your name come up? There’s only one way to find out, said Kevin, whose neon-colored creations “find poetry in the absurd.” Shown in conjunction with his artworks will be a super short documentary, created in collaboration with award-winning filmmaker Irina Patkanian, that captures the mood of islanders as they anticipate the show and whose names might come up.

TSKW galleries are open Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00am to 4:00pm. “Your Name Might Come Up” is sponsored by Douglass House. Based on CDC risk assessment for Monroe County, masks are encouraged but no longer required for visitors to TSKW galleries and offices. For more information visit TSKW.org or Yourcoming.com.

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