BCB 2023 Artist Talks – Dan Kelly
Every biennial, Award artists sit down and tell us about their background and creative practice. They take us on a journey through submission, selection, and presentation of their work. In this series, we look back at artists from the 2023 Biennial as we await the announcement of the Award artists for 2025.
Looking North by Dan Kelly
This series of pots represents a deeply personal view of London, where Dan was born, lives and works today. The ever-changing face of the city has featured graffiti, advertising hoardings, dereliction, and decay. All have inspired the rich surfaces of Dan’s pieces, which have the energy of a restless and relentless city. In his artist talk, Dan recalls moving from the ground floor into a new high-rise. This switch in perspective has been a lifelong inspiration for him, avidly watching the city constantly shifting below him. He then takes us on a practical run-through of how he makes his work and how he thinks about surface.
About the artist
Dan Kelly studied at Camberwell School of arts and crafts in the mid-1970s. After Camberwell, he went on to the Royal College of Art to extend his studies. During this time, quite a lot of experimenting took place, making decisions as a spontaneous, intuitive response to the material. Over the years, Dan has pared down his working process, limiting the range of forms he works with and concentrating on a restricted palette of mostly black, white and neutral tones. Dan has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally and his work is also included in several museum collections.