John Kelly’s kangaroo meets a cow that won’t be branded

When Australian artist John Kelly was struck down with a severe strain of flu and hospitalised, his hospital bed became his art studio.

John Kelly’s Cow Up a Tree.

When Australian artist John Kelly, known for his artistic take on the humble cow, was struck down with a severe strain of flu and hospitalised for months, a special meeting took place as his hospital bed became his art studio.

“I was in hospital for nine months and that’s where the kangaroo met the cow,” he said.

In a long tradition of artistic ­inspiration coming from ­moments in adversity, Kelly’s ­enforced stay sparked a new chapter in his work.

“Hospital is really boring,” Kelly said. “But through that a lot of this new work came out of that space. It’s the marriage of old ideas with new ideas and everything in ­between.”

As he prepares to unveil a ­series of works at the launch of auction house Smith & Singer’s 2021 exhibition program in Melbourne on February 15, Kelly ­reveals the story behind the show, Something Old Something New Something Borrowed Something Blue.

John Kelly’s Australian Landscape (Tilted) 2020.

“The something new is the ­introduction of mixing William Dobell’s cows with a logo of a kangaroo I culturally jammed from the Australian Council of the Arts back in 2002,” he said. “I think it brings back a lot of humour in my work that I’ve always had.”

The English-born artist said he hoped bringing back the kangaroos into his world to juxtapose with Dobell’s cows would say “something more about a confrontation between the council’s attempt to make Australian art conform to a brand image’’.

“I like that this logo has ­escaped the confines for being a brand identity for the council into something that is a dialogue ­between different cultures in a way that is not overbearing; it has a lot of humour in it,” Kelly said.

“I turned that … into a whole series of work on culture jamming which usurped the whole idea of branding. Australian art should never conform to a brand image,” he said. “It’s about creativity and perspectives on life.”

The anticipated solo show will feature 12 works by the contemporary artist, with pieces expected to fetch upwards of $160,000. One titled Cow Up a Tree 2017-2020 has already sold.

Smith & Singer chairman Geoffrey Smith said Kelly’s representation of cows and the landscape “feeds off Australian art, international art and his own iconography’’.

“Originally inspired by William Dobell who was enlisted during World War II to paint tarpaulins to be placed over military air bases to camouflage them from the enemy … he has played on this concept of this idea of the camouflage and subterfuge, so things not being how they seem,” he said.

The exhibition includes a painting, titled Australian Landscape (Tilted) 2020, with price ­estimates reaching $165,000. A sculpture, Blot on the Landscape 2002, has been priced at $125,000.

The pieces range in date from 2002 to 2020.