John P O’Sullivan traces the colourful career of artist John Kelly
In 1994, an Irishman, an Englishman and an Australian walked into the Piccadilly Gallery in Cork Street, London, and announced his arrival on the European art scene. All three of these were John Kelly, son of an Irish father and an English mother, who grew up in Melbourne – thereby allowing him access to three passports. Walking into a high-profile London gallery hawking your artistic wares takes nerve and usually leads to a brief encounter and a chastened exit. ‘I guess I’ve got a bit of the Ned Kelly in me,’ says Kelly. ‘If I’d been born in the 19th century I’d have been holding up a bank.’
