Diarmuid Kelley

Diarmuid Kelley was born in Scotland in 1972. He studied at the University of Newcastle and then at Chelsea School of Art in London, where he obtained his Masters' Degree in Fine Art. Kelley's work is meticulous, both in its planning and its execution. He admits to posing the model in different ways and drawing and reworking until he has the composition he is after. This traditional approach to painting and drawing was the cause of conflict at Chelsea where interpretation and conceptualism were the order of the day. Nevertheless, Kelley persisted, focusing on still life painting in order to isolate what he calls the business of looking. Citing Velazquez and Caravaggio as his heroes, Kelley's paintings bear with them a similar sense of hidden narratives. Striving to make his paintings appear effortless, Kelley won first prize in the National Westminster Bank Young Artists competition and runner-up in the BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery in 1995. Since then he has taken part in numerous group exhibitions and his work has been purchased by corporate and private collectors.

Diarmuid Kelley Images:
Our Spoons came from Woolworths
Shipquay Street