About John Kelly

  • Lives and works in Brighton
  • Graduated from Leeds University
  • Moved to Oxford and taught Geography during 1971–1985
  • Travels in North Africa during the 1990’s producing journals on topographical interpretation, and from 2000, extensive travels in both Arctic and Antarctic regions.

Awards

1998-2000 Arts Council, Landscape
2002-2004 Arts Council, Antarctica
2006-2008 Arts Council, Flood Cycle
2014 Bonhams of London
2023 St Cuthbert’s Society, Durham University

Collections

Magdalen College, Oxford
Wolfson College, Oxford
East Riding Museum
Cheltenham Art gallery & Museum
Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge
British Antarctic Survey

Biography

Publications

Waterlog: Two Rivers Press
Due South: Signal Books, Oxford
White Horizons: British Antarctic Survey
Flood Cycle: Signal Books, Oxford
Landscapes of Exploration: UPP
The Sea Book: Modus Books, Guildford
Antarktikos: An Anthology, published in the Netherlands in 2022

Media

BBC South Today
Radio Four: Front Row
Anglia Television
Blog: National Maritime Museum
‘Big Freeze’, Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge
‘Two Islands’, Sedgewick Museum, Cambridge Festival

Residences and Fellowships

  • British Antarctic Survey (BAS)
  • Svalbard Research Station (NERC)
  • Newfoundland and Labrador Museum
  • Aland Archipelago, Finland
  • Tyndall Centre for Climate Change (UEA)
  • Anchorage Museum, Alaska
  • Barrow Arctic Science Consortium, Alaska (BASC)
  • Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI)
  • Norwegian Polar Research Institute (NPRI)
  • Reykjavik University, Iceland
  • London School of Theology (LST)
  • Royal Navy HMS Protector
  • Icelandic Institute of Natural History

Forthcoming Exhibitions/Group Exhibitions

2022 ‘Two Islands’. Sedgewick Museum, University of Cambridge
2026 ‘Polar Panoramics’. Scott-Polar Research Institute
2026/7 ‘Sacred Islands: Road to Lindisfarne’. Durham University
2027/8 ‘Skies of Wrath’. Venue to be confirmed

Exhibitions

2022 ‘Two Islands: A Study of Time’ Sedgewick Museum, Cambridge
2021 ‘Two Islands’ Lapworth Museum, Birmingham
2009 Uncertain Weather: Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum
2009 Flood Cycle: Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge
2007 Due South: Oxford University Museum
2006 Due South: Cambridge Zoological Museum
2006 Due South: Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum
2005 Due South: Manchester Museum
2004 Due South: Natural History Museum, London

Group Exhibitions

2018 Polar Encounters: Bonhams Showroom, London
2016 Climate Change: The Forum, Norwich Science Festival
2016 The Great White South: Bonham’s Showroom, London
2015 Landscapes of Exploration: Bournemouth University
2013 Tipping Point; Wolverhampton Museum and Art Gallery
2012 Landscapes of Exploration; Penninsula Arts, Plymouth (touring)
2007 White Horizons: Edinburgh Conference Centre
2006 Gesture, Subject and Object: Photographers Gallery (on line)
2004 Tablelands: Newfoundland and Labrador Museum
2001 The Sea: Wolverhampton Museum and Art gallery