In Focus: Work of Late Artist Marley Kaul on Display at BSU’s Talley Gallery

Bemidji artist Marley Kaul passed away in 2021, but his legacy lives on through his work. For the past four years, his family has been collecting his paintings and putting together a gallery exhibit to share his story.

Bemidji State University’s Talley Gallery is now full of color with the new exhibit, titled “Marley Kaul: Retrospective.” It follows Kaul’s work from the 1960s all the way through to 2020s.

“He was pretty experimental, so he kept kind of pushing boundaries and trying new things,” said Steve Kaul, the artist’s son.

That experimentation was evident in the 50 unique pieces on display at the Talley Gallery, which was more than just a gallery to the Kaul family.

“Marley taught at BSU for 34 years, painting and drawing, and his partner Sandy was the gallery director at the original Talley Gallery,” explained Steve. “So, it’s a homecoming.”

“For him, it was interesting, the quote was same as for me—coming to an art school, seeing the studio, seeing the people that work there, and saying, ‘Oh, this is where I am supposed to be,'” said BSU Technology, Art & Design School Associate Professor Mitch Blessing. “That was the biggest influence. It allowed me to realize, ‘Actually, I can do this and this is what I want to do with my life.'”

Marley Kaul inspired art students for more than three decades and created over 500 finished works of his own, mostly acrylic on canvas or egg tempera. The artist passed away in 2021, but the retrospective gallery showcases 60 years worth of work.

“The takeaway for me was, he was always looking at the world and then interpreting that,” said Blessing, who also had Kaul as a teacher when he was in college. “I think his paintings are always a reflection of looking slowly and patiently.”

“Sometimes you see a figure of a house or something, but you’re not sure if it’s partly a person. You know, it’s hard to know,” added Steve with a chuckle. “And only the artist really knows what their intention was. The art is different in person. It’s—you can see detail and texture. You can get close and then stand back a little more. I really enjoy it. A picture is great, too, but nothing beats seeing a piece of art in person.”

The Kaul family has also put together “Paintings,” a book filled with 300 images of Marley’s art. The retrospective will be on sale later in September, and book launches will be held at Open Book in Minneapolis on September 18 and at Bemidji’s Watermark Art Center on September 23.

Marley’s artwork, which is also for sale, will stay up in the Talley Gallery until October 30.