[9] Like traditional photorealists, Kelley bases her paintings on photographs, in this case taken mostly at car shows and automobile museums.

Her low angles of perspective and emphasis on "sensuous curves and luscious surfaces"[6] are seen as representing a feminine, sexualized take on a conventionally masculine area of interest.

Along with pinup and boudoir photography, the dominion of male artists over car art is being left in the dust.

While Robert Bechtle paints photorealistic automobiles in their natural, middle-class habitats, Kelley takes them out of context, removing their utilitarian role and elevating them to works of art, freeing her to infuse them with hyperrealistic detail.

[1] Shortly afterward, her work was chosen by Frank Bernarducci, a leading authority on photorealism, for exhibition at the Bernarducci·Meisel Gallery, which he co-founded with Louis K.

[16] Los Angeles gallery Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art includes her among a group of "revered and influential"[17] photorealists, including John Baeder, Robert Bechtle, Charles Bell, Robert Cottingham, Richard Estes, Gus Heinze, Ralph Goings, Daniel Green, and Elizabeth Patterson.

In 2013, Artsy included her on its list of ten "Masters of Photorealism," along with founding photorealists Richard Estes and Robert Cottingham.

"[9]Her recent work gets the sex appeal right but also nails the grandeur of auto shows, where some of the world’s fastest objects sit still under lights.

This Texas based artist uses high-gloss oil paints to recreate Detroit iron with photographic precision.

[21] 2015 Seven Bridges Foundation, Greenwich, CT[2][3] 2013 "Cheryl Kelley: Detailed," Samek Art Gallery, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA[2][3] 2016 "Land Escapes," Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, NY[22] 2015 "Stainless Steel: A Group Exhibition of Reflective Works in 3 Dimensions," Bernarducci·Meisel Gallery, New York, NY[23] 2015 "The Art of Collecting," Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MI[24] 2014 "Everybody Needs a Hero!"

[1] 2008 Oranges & Sardines: Summer 2008, by David Krump, Andy Nicholson, Meghan Punschke, and Didi Melendez.