Award winning Australian artist, David Kelly, presents a stunning series of contemporary paintings in his first solo show in Singapore at the Australian High Commission ‘Atrium Gallery’.

Acclaimed by national critics and curators for his ‘fine aesthetic qualities, strength, power and lyrical freshness’, Kelly’s ‘Eucalypt’ series celebrates the results of natural elements on the surfaces of Australia’s iconic eucalyptus trees.

In a career spanning more than thirty years as an artist and teacher, his paintings are held in private, corporate, consular and national collections, both internationally and within Australia.   His work has also featured in many award exhibitions, including the 2004 Artiade Olympics exhibition in Athens, as joint representative of Australia.  Work from the series to be exhibited in Singapore was also awarded the 2008 Heysen Prize, judged by Sydney based author and critic, Susan McCulloch.

The physical qualities and broader symbolism of the ubiquitous ‘gum trees’ were appreciated with fresh clarity on his return to Australia after seven years in South-East Asia.   Distinctive elemental inscriptions on the bark provide both a captivating visual story and poignant human metaphor, recognising unique individuals that stand alone, whilst also being an integral part of the broader community.

The centre-piece of this show, a seven panel suite covering more than twelve square metres, has drawn critical acclaim in recent exhibitions at South Australia’s Flinders University Art Museum and the prestigious Sala Kubo-Kutxa, San Sebastian, Spain.

These are paintings that invite the viewer to engage at an intimate level, discovering exquisite amalgamations of pattern, texture and colour.  As though walking in a eucalypt forest, the initial impression of imposing, weathered forms gives way to a world of the delicate and sensitive.

Created using processes of heat, gravity, abrasion and fluid movement, these are artworks that capture the ‘Essence of Eucalypt’.

About the Artist

David Kelly’s career as both artist and teacher has taken him to many parts of the world.  These experiences of great cultural and environmental diversity have become a cornerstone of his visual art practice, informing bodies of work as starkly contrasted as Cambodia’s political history and the solitude of South Australia’s desert country.

The common thread that runs through all his work is related to the stories that are told by elemental processes.  Regardless of man’s interventions, the rich palette of nature applies itself over time to produce outcomes of incomparable wonder on every surface.

Whether his work is inspired by the walls of ancient temples, prison photographs, gnarled tree trunks, peeling billboards or twisting sungai, the outcomes are as much an acknowledgement of nature’s painterly hand as they are a personal statement.