info@studio-pots.com	Harlequin Gallery
Dan Kelly
Below are items of Dan’s work that are currently available at the gallery.
Black stoneware form. Height: 9.7 cm (3.8”) Maximum width: 17.5cm (6.9”) Price: £230		Black stoneware form with white. Height: 11.6cm (4.6”) Price: SOLD
Large black stoneware form with white. Height: 20.0cm (7.9”) Price: £400
Dan Kelly originally studied ceramics at Camberwell School of Art where Colin Pearson was an initial influence, encouraging him to develop his energetic throwing technique at a time when throwing was becoming marginalised. Dan is also grateful to Ewen Henderson for opening his mind to the endless possibilities that small changes can produce when making pots. After Camberwell he went on to the Royal College of Art from where he graduated in 1979. For most of the next decade Dan continued potting and holding various technician posts until he spent a year at Christ's Hospital in Sussex as "artist in residence" in 1988. From that point onwards teaching took up more of his time and exhibitions have tended to take a back seat. However he has had three previous solo shows at the Harlequin Gallery and other exhibitions have included Austin/Desmond Fine Art in London during 2002. Decoration of Dan’s pots is deliberately kept to a minimum with dark metallic oxides being the usual finish to his stoneware vessels. The outer surface of his white porcelain pieces are usually left virtually untouched so that the throwing lines, furrows, indentations and raw edges are somehow emphasised, contrasting with their dark glazed interiors. I know that it has been said in the past that Dan’s pots have a spontaneous appeal and I am sure to many this is true. However, my introduction to studio pottery came via the Anglo-Oriental Leach Pottery tradition so when seeing Dan’s work for the first time it wasn’t “love at first sight”. Over time I have been drawn to look again and this time more closely. This scrutiny has revealed the complex nature of the pots; although they may appear simple monochrome forms they are considered, sensual, essentially anatomical in nature. Repeated contemplation always reveals something new, previously unseen – intellectual pots and a “bit rude” on top, they have won me over. Dan is committed to wheel throwing and feels that he has learnt from historical pots, both oriental and nearer to home, but that the intimacy of the human figure and the tactile aspect of pottery have been most influential in the pots he makes. Another major influence on Dan has been the work of artist/painters such as Lucio Fontana, Antoni Tapies and Franz Kline. He is drawn to these artists because of the flexibility and use of materials other than paint in their work and their exploration of space.
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