Often I feel like a painter is great at portraits or still lifes, but usually not both. However, the work of Diarmuid Kelley is the perfect example of a painter who excels at both. His aesthetic is truly gorgeous and lifelike in a sort of dreamlike way. I especially love the way his work feels unfinished, as if he ran off to a dinner party in the midst of painting … but all the information is there and rendered in Kelley’s signature dashes and brushstrokes.
The youngest artist to be awarded the Nat West Art Prize at the age of 23, Kelley also studied fine art at Newcastle University and enrolled in a masters program at Chelsea College of Art and Design. His work has been shown at the National Portrait Gallery in London, as well as several group exhibits.
{ Images via Offer Waterman & Co }
