Pictures by Bryan Kelly

Born in Ennis and educated in Limerick and at Leeds University, Bryan Kelly spent most of his working life as a designer in the U.K. textile and ceramics industries. His work shows clearly his flair for pattern and eye for colour. Gardens, walks, harbours and houses from rural Ireland are his themes for and are treated in the flattened, decorative manner associated with the so-called ‘naïve’ style. Bryan Kelly’s gaily coloured scenes are a visual delight, full of witty observation and mischievous distortion.
Although Kelly’s work is distinctive and unorthodox, rule-breaking, wry and uplifting, her inherits a tradition of naive painting in Ireland. Several Tory Island painters\' work is in that vein. In the UK, the work of the late mariner-artist, Alfred Wallis in Cornwall is highly prized. Naïve art has roots in sign-painting and like Markey Robinson, he shares characteristics with what is now termed \'outsider art\' ie. rude, economical and decorative. Kelly’s style shares elements with these antecedents. Perspective is used selectively, detail is in sharp focus and the mood is dreamlike.