Dan Kelly

(http://www.studiopottery.co.uk/sp/potter_profile.php?id=754 4-22-08)

Studio Address: Clockwork Studios, 38a Southwell Rd, London

All work is fired in an electric kiln.

2007 - Collect V&A CAL 2007

Contemporary Ceramics - Monochrome

Galerie Besson - The Jug Show

Galerie Besson - Classic and Contemporary Ceramics

2006 - Ceramic Art 2006

Spiral Gallery – Settle

2005 - CAA - Focus

2005 - Galerie Besson - Camberwell in the 1970s

Maltby Gallery - with Peter Joyce paintings

Harlequin Gallery - tea bowls and yunomis

2004 - New Ashgate Gallery - mixed show

Bloomers - Mixed show at CPA

Collect - Art Fair at V & A

2003 - Spring Art Fair - Olympia

Art 2003 - Business Design Centre, Islington

2002 - Austin Desmond - mixed show

2001 - Maureen Michaelson - mixed garden show

Elms Lesters - Brussels Art Fair

Alpha House - mixed show

2000 - Suite 3 - mixed show

Paul Rice - mixed show

Austin Desmond - mixed show

Maiden Bridge, Lancashire - mixed show

Chelsea Crafts Fair

1999 - Suite 3 - mixed show

Elms Lesters - tribal art, painting and ceramics

1998 - Places and Spaces

1997 - Camberwell Gallery

1996 - Felstead Arts Festival

1993 - Paul Rice - two man show with Malcom Pepper

High Table - touring exhibition

1992 - Elms Lesters, Isthmus, London

1991 - Julius Gotlieb Gallery, Carmel College

1990 - Bath International Arts Fair

Chicago Applied Arts Fair

Edinburgh Festival, New British Ceramics

Michaelson and Orient - three man show with Colin Pearson and

Colin Gorry

British Ceramics in Norway - travelling exhibition

1989 - Michaelson and Orient - solo show

Art '89, London

Metaphor and Change, New British Ceramics, Heidleberg, Germany

1988 - Michaelson and Orient - Bath Arts Fair

Shape and Surface - travelling exhibition

Liberty of London - 150 year anniversary of the Royal College of Art

Artsite - Does it Pour?, Bath

1987 - Paul Rice

Anatol Orient - Bath Arts Fair

Christ's Hospital - mixed show

1986 - Anatol Orient - three man show

International Contemporary Arts Fair, London

Gardiner Centre - Potted History

1985 - Anatol Orient - two man show

International Contemporary Arts Fair

1984 - Anatol Orient - Totem show

Carmel College

1983 - Rufford Crafts Centre

Seven Dials Gallery

1982 - British Crafts Centre

Seven Dials Gallery - Clay in the Garden

1981 - Lamport Hall

Cale Art

Bohun Gallery

1978 - Carmel College - mixed show

Sutton College of Liberal Arts - two man show

Public Collections

Ulster Museum

Cleveland Museum

Franz Hals Museum

Fitzwilliam Museum

(http://www.studio-pots.com/dankelly.htm 4-22-08)

Dan Kelly originally studied ceramics at Camberwell School of Art where Colin Pearson was an initial influence, encouraging him to develop his energetic throwing technique at a time when throwing was becoming marginalised. Dan is also grateful to Ewen Henderson for opening his mind to the endless possibilities that small changes can produce when making pots. After Camberwell he went on to the Royal College of Art from where he graduated in 1979.

For most of the next decade Dan continued potting and holding various technician posts until he spent a year at Christ's Hospital in Sussex as "artist in residence" in 1988. From that point onwards teaching took up more of his time and exhibitions have tended to take a back seat. However he has had three previous solo shows at the Harlequin Gallery and other exhibitions have included Austin/Desmond Fine Art in London during 2002.

Decoration of Dan’s pots is deliberately kept to a minimum with dark metallic oxides being the usual finish to his stoneware vessels. The outer surface of his white porcelain pieces are usually left virtually untouched so that the throwing lines, furrows, indentations and raw edges are somehow emphasised, contrasting with their dark glazed interiors.

I know that it has been said in the past that Dan’s pots have a spontaneous appeal and I am sure to many this is true. However, my introduction to studio pottery came via the Anglo-Oriental Leach Pottery tradition so when seeing Dan’s work for the first time it wasn’t “love at first sight”. Over time I have been drawn to look again and this time more closely. This scrutiny has revealed the complex nature of the pots; although they may appear simple monochrome forms they are considered, sensual, essentially anatomical in nature. Repeated contemplation always reveals something new, previously unseen – intellectual pots and a “bit rude” on top, they have won me over.

His last solo Harlequin Gallery exhibition took place during May 2006.

Dan is committed to wheel throwing and feels that he has learnt from historical pots, both oriental and nearer to home, but that the intimacy of the human figure and the tactile aspect of pottery have been most influential in the pots he makes. Another major influence on Dan has been the work of artist/painters such as Lucio Fontana, Antoni Tapies and Franz Kline. He is drawn to these artists because of the flexibility and use of materials other than paint in their work and their exploration of space.