“Poised between two schools of painting, Kelly’s works extend the old debate about which way painting should go, the figure or the field; like Nolan before him the artist has opted for both.” – Damian Smith, 2014

Highly prolific and dynamic Australian artist John Kelly is well known for his graphic, vibrantly coloured etchings. With humour and intelligence Kelly boldly challenges the politics of the art world and pays homage to iconic Australian works of art in his masterfully crafted prints.

In his current exhibition The Moo Brew Etchings Kelly showcases the series of prints that began over a decade ago when Kelly used the Australian Council logo for an artwork, challenging the council’s strict stipulations about how the elements of the logo were represented. This artwork laid the foundation for a series of works in which Kelly placed elements of the logo into ironic contexts, as a comment on the Australia Council’s ‘branding’ and the corporatisation of art. These highly engaging works have since evolved to become the iconic labels for MONA owner David Walsh’s ‘Moo Brew’ beer label.

Alongside this exhibition Kelly showcases another highly celebrated side of his creative practice, with a series of beautifully realised landscape paintings of the breathtaking Hanging Rock region. Kelly’s small and large-scale oil paintings are dramatic, poignant and rugged, capturing the sculptural formations and ever changing moods of this unique place with masterful skill and great sensitivity.