27 Art & Archives He is renowned as a provocateur of the Australian art world and described as both an ‘awkward bugger’ and a ‘free radical’. John Kelly’s long-running ‘feud’ with the Australia Council for the Arts has seen him appropriate the Council’s logo and publish it as the branding graphics on Moo Brew beer cans in partnership with the Australian art world’s other controversial figure; art collector, director of Hobart’s MONA and craft beer brewer, David Walsh. Arriving in Melbourne in June from Ireland – Kelly’s ‘other’ home-country – this Sunshine- born lad caused a tiff played out in Melbourne’s newspapers when he drew attention to his sculpture of a cow up a tree at Docklands that has for the last several years been 27 Kelly’s representations – paintings and sculptures – of cows suspended in trees have earned him an international following. obscured by a pop-up café. The café had indignantly ‘popped-up’ some three years ago directly in front of the work – and never popped down. Kelly’s representations – paintings and sculptures – of cows suspended in trees have earned him an international following, with sculptures being exhibited from Paris’ prominent Champs-Elysées to Monte Carlo, Glastonbury (UK), Cork (Ireland), and Melbourne’s Docklands. Earlier this year, Kelly was nominated for a Walkley Award for Art Journalism, a first for an artist in a field that has traditionally gone to career journalists. Trinity was delighted to exhibit Beyond Woop Woop, a beautifully poetic exhibition of Kelly’s paintings on loan from the artist, in the College’s first-floor Sir Joseph Burke Gallery in the Gateway building from June to November. The exhibition featured 57 paintings produced during Kelly’s time as artist-in-residence with the Australian Antarctic Division in late 2013. Together, they are an evocative portrait of the majesty of the ‘Great Southern Continent’, engaging in their serene stillness but nonetheless charged with the harsh realities of painting en plein air out on the ice. Always supportive of the arts, Kelly made a number of limited edition carborundum prints and original etchings available for sale to College members, with proceeds going towards the establishment of an artist-in-residence fund at »ÆÉ«app. A fantastic opening night preceded a steady stream of visitors to see Kelly’s works. BEYOND WOOP WOOP BY BENJAMIN THOMAS Top: Beyond Woop Woop features 57 paintings produced during John Kelly’s time as artist-in-residence in Antartica. Left: John Kelly with art curator Lara Nicholls (TC 1986). Art & Archives