Assistant Professor Joan Marie Kelly

jmkelly@ntu.edu.sg

Kolkata Series

This second body of work are an on going series of portraits I have been doing in a brothels in Kolkata India and the red light districts in Singapore and Shenzhen, China.
Here is a brief description of my work with cultural theorist Dr. Bhaskar Mukhopadaya of Goldsmiths College

Today, the wheel has come in full circle, artists are asking, once again, with Nicholas Bourriaud, whether through art, “it [is] still possible to generate relationships with the world,” circumventing the trap of ‘representation’. Our research will be situated in the direction of what Bourriaud calls ‘relational aesthetics’ - an aesthetic that seeks to relatewith society and the world.  Our research is an investigation into the communicative dynamics of painting: the purpose is not simply to paint a face but to generate an encounter.  The enterprise is more ethnographic than mimetic. Thus, in this conceptualization, portraiture becomes a form of ‘conceptual art’. We seek to engage with marginal communities – sex-workers, immigrant workers.  The point is to reclaim this group from social oblivion: to give each of them a ‘face’. The result will be a reinforcement of sociality. The research will be carried out by Artist Joan Kelly and cultural theorist, Dr. Bhaskar Mukhopadhyay through collaborative methodologies (combining the creation of the artifact with the sociological and cultural analysis of the interaction of the artist and the immediate milieu of the subject). The study will be conducted among marginalized groups in Singapore, South East Asia, Asia including India and China.  The outcome of the project will be a series of exhibitions comprising visual works, written texts and oral presentations. Further, a series of scholarly essays along with the visual works will be published in refereed international journals and a limited-edition monograph will be circulated among professionals for peer review. The project will mark out Singapore as a significant site for innovative art-activism and NTU will gain recognition by hosting this cutting edge research.  

Education

2003-2005                     Masters of Fine Arts, Western Connecticut State University, Art Award, Concentration: Painting studying with Margaret Grimes, Marjorie Portnow, Ruth Miller, James McGarrell, Suzanne Coffey, Salina Trieff, Stanley Lewis, John Moore
1991-1993                     Bachelors of Fine Arts, Maryland Institute College of Art Concentration: painting, Magna Cum Laude
1989                             Traditional Chinese painting with Diana Kan
1987                             Studio Art School of the Aegean, on Samos, Greece Studied with Ruth Miller,Andrew Forge, and Jim Lechey
1984                             National Academy of Design,  New York, NY. Studied Sculpture with Jerry Luisi
1979-1986                     The Art Students League of New York, studied painting, drawing and   printmaking with Ted Seth Jacobs, Robert Beverly Hale, and Michael Ponce de Leon

Public and Private Commissioned Art

200-2001                       Rose Restaurant: Maryland, USA. Architect Frank Grant, 18 still life paintings in oil
2000                             Brooklyn Park Middle School: Maryland, USA.  Architectural firm: Grimm
and Parker,  three murals in acrylic, 48’ x 10’, 24’ x 38’,  2’ x 30’   25K
2000                             Belvedere Hotel Baltimore: Maryland, USA.  Murals in twelve rosettes of
30” x 24”  Theme: the nine muses of arts and sciences   10K
1999                             Baltimore, Maryland  USA.  Gould Architect, PA:  series of fire place tiles
1999                             Law Office of Jeffrey Hinze: Baltimore, Maryland USA series of five murals
1998                             Montebello Elementary School: Baltimore City 1% for art USA, mural in oil
5” x 25’ 20K
1997                             Sons of Italy: Baltimore, USA mural in oils 6.5’ x 25’ 10K
1995                             The cookie tray for Pope John Paul during his trip to Baltimore, Maryland

Publications
International Biennial of Drawing Pilsen Oct., 2008: Published by University of West Bohemia
ISBN: 978-80-7043-723-0
Erotic Wonders: The Private Collection of Erotic art of Naomi Wilzig, Published by Miss Naomi international, LLC Box 1421 Lutz Flordia  2005  ISBN: 0-9761840-2-8

Recent Exhibitions
2009 Mar.                     Juried Group Exhibition: Drawing From Perception VI, Robert and Elain Stein Galleries, Wright University Dayton, Ohio USA Juror: Ruth Miller- Forge
2009 Mar.                     Group Exhibition: Sketchbook Project, Museum of Contemporary Art, Wash. DC.  2009 Apr.                        Group Exhibition: Sketchbook Project, Museum of Design, Atlanta, Georgia USA
2008 Nov                      Solo Exhibition   “Reflex”  University Sains Museum Penang Malaysia
2008 Oct.                      International Drawing Biennial Pilsen Czech Rep. Juried Competition,
2008 April                    Duel Exhibition    “ Influx” Joan Kelly and Eileen Reynolds Post Museum,
2007 May                     Duel Exhibition    Basheer Gallery, Singapore  Joan Kelly & Phillip Baldwin 
2006 July                    Group Exhibition    Burren College of Art, Ireland
2006                             Group Exhibition    “14 Emerging Artists” Prince Street Gallery, Chelsea, NY
2005                             Group Exhibition               “Small Works” Blue Mountain Gallery, Chelsea, NY
2005                             Group Exhibition   “Tour de Clay” Invitational exhibition
Maryland Institute College of Art curator: Ron Lang