Flurries

Lithograph, woodblock, and hand coloring on Nepalese paper.

Born in Idaho Falls, Daniel Kelly is a painter, printmaker and multi-media artist. He studied at the University of Portland and Portland State University. Following graduation, Kelly moved to San Francisco, working in glass and mosaics before studying romantic-expressionist painting with Morton Levin. Upon seeing a book of woodblock prints, Kelly pursued the print medium with unyielding enthusiasm. He promptly moved to Kyoto in 1978 and began to study traditional woodblock technique under Tomikichiro Tokuriki. Over the next few decades, Kelly’s work became increasingly daring.

Combining his expansive knowledge of techniques with innovative amalgamations of media, Kelly challenges the boundaries of each individual art form, as well as the limits of his own expression. From concrete to paint, polyvinyl to old book pages, his works push visual distortion and a vital physicality. Kelly regularly holds exhibitions worldwide and his work can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the British Museum. As expressed by contemporary author Banana Yoshimoto, “[Daniel Kelly] consumes and digests the beauty of an object, holding and appreciating it within himself until he has absorbed it."

Select Awards/Exhibitions/Publications

2013     Ebb & Flow: Cross Cultural Prints, Toledo Museum of Art

2013     Daniel Kelly: A Retrospective of Prints and Paintings since 1982, Tolman Collection, Tokyo

2013     Kyoto Revisited, Tolman Collection, Hong Kong

2010     Daniel Kelly: An American Artist in Japan. Tokyo: Kodansha International

2007     Recipient of Mayor’s Prize for best painting (Western style category) at Kyoten, KyotoCity Museum of Art, Kyoto

2007     On the Cutting Edge: Contemporary Japanese Prints from the 50th College Women’s Association of Japan Print Show, Library of Congress, Washington DC

2005     Visions of Japan: Prints and Paintings from Cleveland Collections, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

2004     Los Angeles Museum of Art

2002     Morikami Museum, Delray Beach, Florida, U.S.

1999     Sogetsu Kaikan Museum/Tolman Collection, Tokyo

1997     Quiet Elegance: Japan Through the Eyes of Nine American Artists by Michael Verne and Betsy Franco, Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing

1986     Biennial of American Prints, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York