December 12, 2018 – (Key West, FL). New exhibit at Custom House Museum spotlights late artist Ferron Bell

Key West Art & Historical Society celebrates the legacy of one of the island’s most clever visual artists with “Art & Puns: The Whimsy of Ferron Bell”now on exhibit in the Bumpus Gallery of the Custom House Museum, 281 Front Street, and running through February 10, 2019.

The exhibit spotlights the quirky late artist’s trademark visual wit and whimsy, featuring work from private Key West collectors, personal photographs, and newspaper clippings about the unique personality widely known for his off-the-wall and humorous creations.

“Ferron loved puns; his artwork typically involved a pun or a play on words,” says Society Curator, Cori Convertito, Ph.D. “He took the lovely scenery around him and incorporated elements of nature (particularly birds) in a pun.  For example, he created various examples of a work he called ‘The Crow Bar’ which was, essentially, a murder of crows standing alongside a bar with cocktails in hand.”

Bell’s passion and creativity were embraced by both of the island communities where he lived and worked, Key West and Fire Island Pines, New York.  In Key West, he was commissioned to paint entire rooms with tropical motifs and sold many of his pieces to friends who supported his quirky vision and nature.

Visitors to the Custom House Museum can also catch the final weeks of “Islands, Imagination and Instance: Florida Keys Folk Art,” on exhibit in the Bryan Gallery through January 6, and several ongoing acclaimed exhibits, including “Overseas to the Keys: Henry Flagler’s Overseas Railway,” and a series of “Old Man and the Sea” pen-and-ink drawings by internationally acclaimed artist and conservationist Guy Harvey, inspired by Ernest Hemingway’s epic tale.

For more information, call Cori Convertito, Ph.D. at 305-295-6616 x 112 or visit kwahs.org. Your Museums.  Your Community.  It Takes an Island. 

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The Key West Art & Historical Society exhibit, “Art & Puns: The Whimsy of Ferron Bell,” runs through February 10, 2019 at the Custom House Museum, 281 Front Street.