After nearly flattening himself erecting a wall outside Xenia, Ohio, Kevin Ley was no longer content with becoming an architect. He returned to painting for a little while, marking time with translucence; working in wax, varnish, and oil. His MFA installation in 1999 was vandalized by attendees, inviting comparisons to the opening night of Stravinsky's own aesthetically-seditious 'The Rite of Spring.'

As an act of self-preservation, Ley began devising a formula that would render concepts more easily grasped but harder to put one's finger on. Soon he found he could make both objects more ethereal and ephemera more concrete.

Since decamping to New York in 2000, he has designed books, album art, identity work and other materials for clients as far-reaching as Kids with Cameras, R by 45 rpm, Hyperion Books, and Polyvinyl Records. He is currently at work on 'Reinados,' a book and ongoing project with photographer and Pulitzer finalist Carl Bower exploring the mania surrounding beauty pageants in Colombia.  —Kyle Fischer, Brooklyn, 2007

KEVIN LEY / 48 LEXINGTON, NUMBER 3, BKLYN NY / +1 917 582 9946