Literature – Madeleine Teresa Kelly Artist

Irwin, A ‘Black boxes and Interlopers’ an essay accompanying Dreamz, Curated by Liam Garstang SCA Gallery, Sydney College of the Arts, Thursday 13 March – Saturday 12 April 2025

Madeleine Kelly’s paintings synthesise the rational and the fantastical in a way that renders the familiar subtly strange. This blending does not position nature as subordinate or mechanised, but instead highlights the wonder and mystery of a simple encounter between a human and horse, or a tiger moth alighting on a pumpkin flower. They appear as puzzles, with an Escher-like, architectural quality to each composition, evoking something both grounded and otherworldly.

2025 Diana Wood Conroy and Madeleine Kelly in conversation with Lindsay McDougall, the ABC Illawarra Drive Show, Arts & Culture segment, 16 July

2025 Phoon, C M ‘How to conjure a bird’ Vault: Australasian Art & Culture , 22 August

2025 McKay, L J ‘Who Are You? Avian Assemblages’, exhibition catalogue, pp. 7–19.

2024 Exhibition catalogue O’Neill, E (ed.) (2024) Madeleine Kelly: Entangled Flashes / Verwickelte Blitze, The University of Sydney. Texts by Madeleine Kelly, Clare Murphy Dr. Sara Troster Klemm. Catalogue design by Small Tasks

2023 Gralton, B, ‘Exhibition begins a timely conversation’ in The Australian, Friday March 31, Inquirer p.12.

2023 Gralton, B ‘We need to talk’, in Look Magazine, April – May 2023, Art Gallery of NSW members pp 42 – 47

2023 Wolifson, C ‘Exquisite Corps’ in In the arms of unconsciousness: Women, feminism and the surreal (exhibition catalogue), pp. 18-25

2023 McDonald, J ‘The surreal deal: Art inspired by the unspeakable’ in The Sydney Morning Herald July 29 https://www.smh.com.au/culture/art-and-design/the-surreal-deal-art-inspired-by-the-unspeakable-20230724-p5dqre.html

2023 Spruyt, T ‘Artist Text’ in The National 4 Art Gallery of NSW Website

2023 Wolifson, C ‘Exquisite Corps’ in In the arms of unconsciousness: Women, feminism and the surreal (exhibition catalogue), pp. 18-25

2022 Karakaska, M Artist Interview ‘“Düşünüyorum, O Halde Neden Yok Oluşun Eşiğindeyim?” (I think, then why am I on the verge of extinction?’) in ‘Information/Knowledge’ no. 5 Iklim Gazetesi, Turkey http://www.sekme.fugamundi.org/sayi6bilgi

Birds and Language (Exhibition catalogue)

2021 Kelly, Madeleine, Birds and Language Exhibition Catalogue (20 November 2021 – 13 February 2022) Wollongong City Gallery http://wollongongartgallery.com/exhibitions/Pages/Birds-and-Language.aspx

Preview: Birds and Language

2021 Gaynor, A, ‘Preview: Birds and Language’ in Artist Profile, issue 57, pp. 172–73.

2020 Mitchell, B, ‘A Natural Affinity’ https://blog.qagoma.qld.gov.au/madeleine-kelly-a-natural-affinity-australia/

2020 Guthrie, Kim, ‘Madeleine Kelly: Can U Dig it?’ in Artist Profile, issue 50, pp. 100–05.

2019 Martin-Chew, L, ‘Rise of the New Woman’ in New Woman, exhibition catalogue, Museum of Brisbane, pp. 9–13.

2018 Purdon, F, ‘Turn up the heat’ in U on Sunday, The Courier Mail, 16 September, p. 20; Crossen, Louise, ‘Alumnus takes out national art award’,

https://app.secure.griffith.edu.au/news/2018/09/13/art-alumnus-takes-out-national-award/;

2018 Geczy, A, ‘Madeleine Kelly’s Painterly Morphology’, exhibition essay, What the centre cannot hold: new works by Madeleine Kelly, Ipswich Regional Gallery (13 July – 8 October)

2018 Cousins, Kerry-Anne, ‘I thought I heard a bird and Cupped Hands at Craft ACT’, Canberra Times,8 April, ‘Canberra Birds: Cute craft for the archive of painting’, image, in https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6006220/two-exhibitions-that-provide-a-dialogue-between-us-and-our-environment/#slide=3

https://news.griffith.edu.au/2019/08/15/griffith-artists-in-the-spotlight-at-trace/

2018 Purdon, F, ‘Turn up the heat’ in U on Sunday, The Courier Mail, 16 September, p. 20.

2018 Crossen, Louise, ‘Alumnus takes out national art award’, https://app.secure.griffith.edu.au/news/2018/09/13/art-alumnus-takes-out-national-award/

https://www.artshub.com.au/news-article/news/grants-and-funding/staff-writer/applause-latest-funding-and-awards-announced-256394 and

https://www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/Council/News-Centre/Allowable-Forms-and-Unconscious-Facts-wins-Sunshine-Coast-Art-Prize-2018-310818

Interview, Artist Profile Magazine, Issue 25, 2013-14

2017 Smith, J, Diversity and Demise: Encounters with pelagic birds and sub-linguistic form, exhibition catalogue,Wollongong City Gallery (11 February – 14 May), Wollongong, NSW.

2015 QAGOMA blog ‘GOMAQ: Madeleine Kelly’ http://blog.qagoma.qld.gov.au/goma-q-madeleine-kelly/ accessed 06/01/16.

2015 Failey, G, ‘GOMA Q: Contemporary Queensland Art’, Visual ArtsHub, 12 August http://visual.artshub.com.au/news-article/reviews/visual-arts/gina-fairley/goma-q-contemporary-queensland-art-248953 accessed 06/01/16.

2014 Brand, L, Fractured Beauty, exhibition catalogue, Wollongong City Gallery (13 September – 26 October), Wollongong, NSW.

2014 A Frost, A, ‘The Engine of Experience: Contemporary Art and SF’, in Conquest of Space, exhibition catalogue, UNSW Galleries (22 May – 5 July), COFA, Sydney, NSW, pp. 5–7.

MacLeod, B 2013, ‘Profile: Madeleine Kelly’, in Artist Profile, no.25, pp.52-55.

The Surface of Language was exhibited by invitation at the Webb Gallery Queensland College of Art, Griffith University. The artist was interviewed by Bridget MacLeod in ‘Profile: Madeleine Kelly’, Artist Profile, November, Issue 25, 2013-14 pp52-55. The exhibition was reviewed by Hayley McFarlane, in ‘Brisbane Gallery Hop’, Artlink, Vol.33, no.4, 2013

Tristan Stonhill, The Surface of Language

The exhibition “The Surface of Language” was reviewed by Tristan Stonhill, 2013.

2013 McFarlane, H, ‘Brisbane Gallery Hop’, Artlink, vol. 33, no. 4, p. 95.

2013 Butler, R, ‘The QCA School’, Art Monthly Australia, no. 257, pp. 40–3.

2012 Morrell, T, ‘The James C Sourris AM collection’, Artlink, vol. 32, no. 1, p. 95.

2011 A Kirker, A, ‘The Woman Question, Surrealism: The Poetry of Dreams, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 11 June – 2 October 2011’, Eyeline, no. 76, online review.

2011 Richards, B, ‘Emerging Artists: the Current Crop’, in J Ewington & Queensland Art Gallery, Ten years of contemporary art: the James C Sourris AM collection, Queensland Art Gallery (12 November – 19 February), South Brisbane, Qld, pp. 97–117.

Abby Fitzgibbons, Hollow Mark 2011

Fitzgibbons, A 2011, ‘An Alchemy of Reflection’, in Hollow Mark, exhibition catalogue, 7 October – 13 November, pp.4-7.

Hollow Mark was curated by Director Simon Wright into the Griffith University Art Gallery in 2011, the exhibition was accompanied by a monograph with essay by Abigail Fitzgibbons.

2010 Fitzgibbons, A, ‘Madeleine Kelly, “The Crevice”’, Artlink, vol. 30, no. 4, p. 85.

2010 Stewart, K, ‘Fairy Knoll: Madeleine Kelly’, in The Ipswich House: Heritage house portraits by contemporary Queensland artists, exhibition catalogue, Ipswich Art Gallery (11 September – 14 November), Qld, pp. 26–30.

2009 Morrell, T, ‘Queensland: The Unreal Australia’, in Temperature 2: New Queensland Art, exhibition catalogue, Museum of Brisbane (6 February – 8 June), Brisbane, Qld, p. 15.

2008 Morrell, T, ‘The error of our ways: Madeleine Kelly’, Artlink, vol. 28, no. 1, March, pp. 60–5.

2007 Fenner, F, ‘The Nature of Art’, Art and Australia, vol. 44, no. 3, Autumn.

2007 Flynn, B, ‘Madeleine Kelly’, Emerge and Review: A Look into the UBS Australian Art Collection, UBS, Sydney, NSW, pp. 54–5.

2006 Morrell, T & G Cooke, Colonial to Contemporary: Queensland College of Art 125 Years, Griffith Artworks, Brisbane, Qld, p. 26.

2006 Frost, A, ‘Madeleine Kelly, 50 of Australia’s most collectable artists’, Australian Art Collector, issue 35, January–March, p. 105.

2005 Butler, ‘R, Art in Australia’, Art Review, vol. 43, no. 2, Summer, p. 277.

Smee, S, ‘Spring Loaded’, Weekend Australian, September, pp. 17–8.

2005 McDonald, J, ‘Isn’t it Ironic?’, The Sydney Morning Herald – Spectrum, Visual Art, 15–16 October, pp. 28–9.

Fenner, F, Primavera 2005: Young Australian Artists, exhibition catalogue, Museum of Contemporary Art (7 September – 13 November), Sydney, NSW.

Butler, R 2003, ‘Spooky work by fresh new talent’, The Courier Mail, Saturday August 23, BAM p.4[pdf-embedder url=”https://dsbq8r8ngkh51.

Josh Milani, Fossilphilia 2003

Milani, J 2003, ‘On the transformation of oil’ in Fossilphilia, exhibition catalogue.

In this catalogue essay written for the exhibition Fossilphilia (Filaments from Iraq), shown at Metro Arts, Brisbane, Josh Milani states, “Whereas one (crude oil) is transformed for the production of energy, hers is transformed for the production of culture, thus exemplifying through both medium and content what is in the end a humanitarian position.”

WRITING by Madeleine Kelly

Birds and Language (Exhibition catalogue)

My curatorial project, Birds and Language, included 30 artworks by significant Australian artists well-placed to communicate intersections between birds and language. The works were speculative; they suggested a radically different approach to understanding and presenting the colours, forms, sounds and behaviours of birds and reimagining humanity’s relationship with non-human life. From bird dancing and acoustic rhythms to threatened birdsong and languages, birds were considered from important new horizons and perspectives. A range of media – paint, ink, textile, sound, glass, ceramic, digital and more – cross-pollinate with the sonograph, the musical score, taxonomy, taxidermy, text, and abstract graphic languages from Europe to West Arnhem Land. Together they present birds as communicators and prediscursive agents.

Liveliness: Can sympoietic painting save forms of life?

Kelly, Madeleine, ‘Liveliness: Can sympoietic painting save forms of life?’ ACUADS Conference 2020: Crisis & Resilience: art and design looks ahead. Australia: Australian Council of University Art & Design Schools, 2020. 1-13.

https://acuads.com.au/conference/article/liveliness-can-sympoietic-painting-save-forms-of-life/

The view that images have a life of their own is a well-known vitalist projection (Hans Belting, WJT Mitchell). I extend the trope of the living painting to a systemic order of aliveness, one that emphasises painting’s becoming within a vital open system through Beth Dempster’s (2000) concept of sympoiesis. With that in mind I ask: ‘How might the metaphor of the poietic work extend to that of the living planet?’ Throughout the paper, I describe works from my Open Studio shown at the Queensland Art Gallery (10 October 2020 – 31 January 2021).

Kelly, Madeleine, ‘Claudia Fernandez: “Ceremonia”’,Garland 8, September 2017. http://garlandmag.com/article/claudia-fernandez-ceremonia/

To emphasise aesthetic practice that is led by the hand, orchestrated by tools, and results in what one’s hands have done is to value the tactile humanist spirit that runs contrary to the economically rationalised mass-produced objects typical of consumer culture today.

Mimicry and Mimesis – Matrix Insect 2016

Kelly, Madeleine, Mimicry and Mimesis: Matrix Insect, Animal Studies Journal, 5(1), 2016, 48-64.

Paintings and insects might seem like odd companions. In this paper I describe how a series of paintings I made depicting insects creates associations between mimesis and mimicry in order to ag a sort of protective self-referentiality – one where painting resists its proverbial ‘end’ and insects are presented as vital new orders. Drawing upon art historical references, such as Surrealism and the modernist grid, I argue that playing on these references and the compositional effects of camouflage enlivens our regard for the sensuous worlds of both insects and painting. I conclude by exploring how paintings of insects are powerful metaphors for imagining new non-hierarchal relationships between humans and non-humans.

THE MANY FACES OF HUMAN IMPACTS

2019 Kelly, Madeleine, ‘Exhibition review, The many faces of human impacts: The Seventh Continent, 16th Istanbul Biennial, curated by Nicolas Bourriaud’ College Art Association (CAA) International News, 19

When artists work with archaeology and anthropology it is easy to imagine their work as a labour entrenched in the past. Yet, in the 2019 Istanbul Biennial – entitled The Seventh Continent after the drifting mass of plastic waste that contaminates the world’s oceans, and showcasing across three venues the work of 56 artists and art collectives from 26 countries – artists break down the division between subjects and objects, granting subjective agency to stones, plants and other non-human voices. The most powerful works convey Serge Daney’s concept of ‘inter-subjective relation’ that proceeds by way of the form of the face. I propose that an echo of his early citation of inter-subjective relation is present in forms with subject-like qualities–in particular faces– and that these especially address our relation to dwindling diversity and mounting waste generated by industrial capitalism.

Creation and Preservation: Teaching colour theory

2015 Kelly, M. T. “Creation and preservation: teaching colour theory.” ACUADS Conference 2015: Art and Design Education in the global 24/7. Australia: Australian Council of University Art & Design Schools, 2015. 1-13.

‘Creation and preservation: Teaching colour in the transforming visual arts world’, conference presentation, The Australian College of University Art and Design Schools, University of South Australia, School of Art, Architecture and Design, Adelaide, delivered 24 September.

This paper reflects on novel learning experiences Kelly has undertaken with particular reference to colour. To do this, she describes two examples of learning activities that follow from short visual lectures that unfold the history of mixing pigments and light. In doing so, she addresses the relevance of colour theory to painting specifically, as well as its interdisciplinary potential. Kelly traces the mythic narratives of the original pigments and shows how pigments and resulting paintings have transformed in response to innovation. This article is a conceptual and empirically grounded examination of how colour is not bound to one discipline.

MECO360: Between Expansion and Collapse, 2016.

Kelly, Madeleine, MECO360: Between Expansion and Collapse, Posted on April 5, 2016 by sballard, | 4 April 2016.

In the mid seventies, biologists Lynn Margulis and James Lovelock described the earth as ‘autopoietic Gaia’, a living system, a body analogous to our own, composed of interdependent symbiotic relationships. ‘We are walking communities …Ten percent or more of our body weight is bacterial [in its evolutionary origins], and it’s just foolish to ignore that’, Margulis stated (378). So, to explore these relations, my paintings sometimes depict things as part of flow charts or systems, but just as natural systems are disrupted by culture, these are fictional orders that disrupt accepted orders.