Déirdre Kelly

Please describe yourself and your areas of interest.

I was born in London, England to an Irish family and currently live in Venice, Italy. My experience as artist and curator working in collaboration with other artists, is based on formation with a Master of Arts in Printmaking from Wimbledon School of Art in 1987 at which time I was a member of the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers and I have been exhibiting regularly ever since. My artistic practice plays with the aesthetics of cartography to create personalised maps, using a combination of collage and mixed media. The mechanisms and language key to reading maps providing a kind of 'grounding', a ‘grip’ on the world, a fundamental connection with people place and time. Curatorial experience started in 1986, as founding director of Hardware Gallery London, with specialism in contemporary limited edition prints, and artists’ publications. The Hardware Collection of artists’ bookworks was acquired by The British Library last year and Hardware Gallery documentation (1985-2003) is now held at Tate Archive. Since 2008 my studio has been based at the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica, located in the heart of historic Venice, where I am invited Artist in Residence and curator of the SGgallery programme. Over the years I have enjoyed being visiting Lecturer, at Postgraduate and Degree level at many universities & art colleges in UK and Ireland. Since 2019, Contributing Editor, Artists’ Books for Art North Magazine. In 2012 I was made a fellow of the Ballinglen Arts Foundation in the West of Ireland, where I have enjoyed a number of residencies and where I have a close family affinity.

Why did you become a Companion of the Guild?

Living in Venice on a daily basis I am transported back to that vision which first brought me here as a student in the 1980's, that which links directly to John Ruskin’s observations and resonance with John Singer Sargent, Walter Sickert, John Piper and the many other artists’ views of Venice. This recent pandemic brought an awareness and understanding of how Venice has come to symbolise the vulnerability and beauty which represents the fragility of this time, which is why, I felt it important to join the Guild in keeping alive the dynamism of Ruskin's observations and the ongoing importance of Ruskin’s legacy. A continuum of a consciousness which stems from looking out of my ‘canal view’ studio window onto the daily barometer of the Venetian lagoon. Recently my images have also been used on poster campaigns here in Venice to draw attention to the damage caused by the cruise ships. Here I am living my dream, walking and mapping on a daily basis with an enthusiasm for looking and observing the fragile & durable beauty of Venice on a human scale.

Web link: www.deirdrekelly.net