"Everlasting Sky: A Tribute to Robert Kinsell"
Hooks-Epstein Galleries presents "Everlasting Sky: A Tribute to Robert Kinsell". This special exhibition will bring together a selection of paintings and photographs by late artist Robert Kinsell (April 14, 1951 – March 28, 2025), whose practice elevated illusion, wit, and imagination into enduring works of art. The tribute exhibition opens Saturday, October 18, 2025, with a Gallery Talk at 4:00PM featuring Kinsell’s former gallerist, Roni McMurtrey, and Kinsell’s former colleague, retired Stephen F. Austin art faculty member, Gary Parker; the Opening Reception will follow from 5:00-7:00 PM.
Known for his devotion to realism as “the beautiful lie”, Kinsell transformed familiar objects such as sticks, bones, produce, and graffiti into images layered with humor, surprise, and visual poetry. His paintings playfully walk the line of surrealist invention—juxtaposing surface and depth, reality and imagination, and truth and contradiction—revealing his lifelong fascination with illusion as both craft and philosophy.
Born in Indiana, Kinsell studied painting at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Beyond his own studio practice, Kinsell’s influence shaped generations of artists during his 25 years as Professor of Art at Stephen F. Austin University, where he taught painting, drawing, and design from 1988 to 2013. In recognition of his lasting impact, the Robert Kinsell Art Scholarship was established to be awarded annually to art students majoring in painting or photography.
Kinsell’s artistic legacy continues to resonate far beyond Texas, with works represented in both private and public collections, including United Airlines (Paris, France), Citizens Fidelity Bank (Louisville, KY), Stephen F. Austin State University (Nacogdoches, TX), Longview Museum of Fine Art (Longview, TX), and South Texas Institute for the Arts (Corpus Christi, TX). His work has been exhibited nationally in both commercial galleries and academic settings.
Robert Kinsell is survived by his wife, Judy Morgan, and their beloved companion dog, Punkin. Together, they made their home in the Davis Mountains of West Texas, a place of reverence and solitude that deeply shaped Kinsell’s vision as an artist. As he once reflected on his work, “The images . . . may well be blazes for a path that could soon be eliminated. Then these images will be my mark on that abandoned path, my statement of ‘Once upon a time, I was here in a place of wonder.’”
"Everlasting Sky: A Tribute to Robert Kinsell" will continue through November 22, 2025.
