Alanna O'Kelly (, also spelled Alannah; born 1955) is an Irish artist, active in

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

and

installation art Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called ...

, as well as

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

, song, land art and film. She is a member of

Aosdána Aosdána ( , ; from , 'people of the arts') is an Irish association of artists. It was created in 1981 on the initiative of a group of writers with support from the country's Arts Council. Membership, which is by invitation from current member ...

, an elite association of Irish artists.

Biography

O'Kelly was born in

Gorey Gorey () is a market town in north County Wexford, Ireland. It is beside the main M11 Dublin to Wexford road. The town is also connected to the railway network along the same route. Local newspapers include the ''Gorey Guardian''. As a growi ...

in 1955. She studied at the Regional Technical College Galway,

National College of Art and Design The National College of Art and Design (NCAD) is Ireland's oldest art institution, offering the largest range of art and design degrees at undergraduate and postgraduate level in the country. Originating as a drawing school in 1746, many of th ...

(NCAD, Dublin) and the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

(London). Her 1990 work ''The Country Bloom, A Garden and a Grave'' was described by Stephanie McBride as " econfiguring

Achill Achill Island (; ga, Acaill, Oileán Acla) in County Mayo is the largest of the Irish isles, and is situated off the west coast of Ireland. It has a population of 2,594. Its area is . Achill is attached to the mainland by Michael Davitt Brid ...

’s

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sc ...

through image and text to present a narrative of local loss, mourning and

Famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompani ...

memories." It was selected by ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' as part of "Modern Ireland in 100 Artworks." She represented Ireland at the 1996 São Paulo Art Biennial and was elected to

that same year. She performed a traditional

keen Keen, Keen's, or Keens may refer to: People *Keen (surname) *Thomas Keens (1870-1953), British politician Music and song * Keen (band), Italian band * Keen (song), "Keen" (song), a single by That Petrol Emotion * Keen Records, American record ...

at the "funeral" of Patrick Ireland in 2008. This performance was highly praised, ''The Recorder: A Journal of the American Irish Historical Society'' saying "The keening by Alannah (O'Kelly) was wordless and tore right down to your root. It was one of the most extraordinary things, perhaps the most extraordinary, I've ever heard. It's still in my ears. It remains present to me." Aosdána says that her work "explores ideas of the psychic conflicts of our shared history and the continuity of tradition." Her work is held at the Irish Museum of Modern Art and

Ireland's Great Hunger Museum Ireland's Great Hunger Museum ( ga, Músaem An Ghorta Mhóir) was founded in 2012 in Hamden, Connecticut as part of Quinnipiac University to document and educate the public on the Irish Great Famine (Ireland), Great Famine of 1845–1852, as well ...

(Connecticut).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okelly, Alannah 1955 births Living people Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art 20th-century Irish women artists 21st-century Irish women artists Alumni of the National College of Art and Design Aosdána members Irish performance artists Irish installation artists Land artists Alumni of Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology People from Gorey