The Eric Kelly III Library
The Eric Kelly III Library is a profound and unparalleled testament to the visual, literary, and cultural brilliance of one of the most visionary minds in contemporary art. Encompassing over 40 published books and a meticulously curated archive of more than 2,000 original artworks, the library is more than a personal collection—it is a living museum of synesthetic creativity, Black identity, and diasporic memory.
At the heart of this legacy lies Eric Kelly III, a synesthete whose rare neurological gift allows him to experience cross-sensory perceptions. In his world, sound has shape, emotion has color, and every stroke of paint resonates with a deeper, unseen rhythm. His library—and the artworks that illuminate it—go far beyond traditional categorization. It is a multi-sensory universe, where abstract compositions hum with musicality and spiritually charged figurative pieces vibrate with ancestral energy.
The Eric Kelly III Library spans an astonishing timeline from 1962 to 2025, documenting not only the artist’s prolific output but also the cultural, historical, and intellectual evolution of the African and African American experience. With first-edition books, out-of-print catalogs from landmark exhibitions, Afrocentric educational texts, original manuscripts, and rare artist journals, the collection bridges decades of Black brilliance with an eye toward both preservation and innovation.
The library serves scholars, artists, curators, and cultural explorers as a sacred space of reflection, research, and reimagining. It is a blueprint of one man’s singular vision and also a collective archive of a people’s past, present, and future. Its impact reaches beyond the visual—inviting readers and viewers into an immersive ecosystem where art, sound, literature, and soul intersect.
As both a personal catalog and a public treasure, the Eric Kelly III Library stands among the most comprehensive and culturally significant personal archives of contemporary African diasporic expression in the world today. It is a timeless tribute to memory, mastery, neurodiversity, and the ongoing power of Black creative excellence.
Letter of Consideration: Eric Kelly III – Abstract Expressionist
I am honored to submit Eric Kelly III for your consideration as a featured artist within your institution or upcoming exhibition. A master of Abstract Expressionism, Eric Kelly III’s work defies traditional form and instead channels emotion, rhythm, and memory into powerful visual narratives that are both deeply personal and profoundly universal.
As a synesthete, Kelly experiences an extraordinary intersection of the senses. His art is directly influenced by music and sound, which appear to him not only as auditory experiences but as colors, movements, and emotional textures. Jazz, gospel, soul, hip-hop, and ancestral rhythms inform his palette and brushstrokes—each canvas becomes a kind of visual score, composed in paint, rhythm, and intuition.
Over the course of his career, Eric Kelly III has created more than 2,000 original, one-of-a-kind works, each pulsing with a life of its own. His unique ability to visually transcribe music allows him to create compositions that vibrate off the canvas, evoking sensations beyond the visual—transforming silence into form, and stillness into movement.
His art exists within a sacred continuum of Black expression—fusing spirituality, sonic memory, and Afro-diasporic legacy into a living archive. No two works are alike, and none are ever replicated. To encounter a piece by Eric Kelly III is to step into a deeply immersive environment where the unseen becomes visible, and where art sings its own unspoken song.
I would welcome the opportunity to discuss how Eric Kelly III’s distinctive vision and sound-driven abstraction might align with your curatorial goals.
Thank you for your time and thoughtful consideration.
Sincerely,
The Eric Kelly Museum
