In a retrospective of the work of artist Oisín Kelly sculptures created across his career are displayed for the first time.
For the first time many sculptures by Oisín Kelly can be seen by the public in a major reflection on his life's work at the Douglas Hyde Gallery in Trinity College. .
He'd never had an exhibition in all the forty years he has been hammering and chiseling, filing and carving.
Art Critic Dorothy Walker describes Oisín Kelly as,
A bedrock of Irish art and Irish tradition.
She says he is constantly innovating and improving his contribution to Irish art. She draws parallels in his work to that of artist Henri Matisse, who always produced a rather quiet and pleasant art and at the same time revolutionary.
For Oisín Kelly, the opening of his retrospective exhibition in Belfast was something of a mystery tour into his own past. The exhibition at the Ulster Museum included pieces he had forgotten he had ever made.
Oisín Kelly, born Ausin Kelly, hails from James's Street in Dublin where his father was a teacher. From an early age, he was interested in art. Taught by his father until the age of 11, Oisín Kelly then attended Mountjoy School. He studied languages at Trinity College Dublin and then obtained a scholarship to study in Germany. He returned to Ireland, married and became a teacher.
Dorothy Walker describes Oisín Kelly as "a saintly person" who has a real serenity and wisdom about him.
This episode of 'Folio' was broadcast on 24 April 1978. The presenter is Patrick Gallagher.
Some of Oisín Kelly's more notable works on public display include The Children of Lir (1964) in the Garden of Remembrance, Two Working Men (1969) by County Hall in Cork, Roger Casement (1971) Banna Strand in Kerry, Jim Larkin (1977) on Dublin's O'Connell Street, and the Chariot of Life (1982) at the Irish Life Centre on Lower Abbey Street in Dublin.
'Folio' was initially a general arts programme, first broadcast on 20 September 1977 with a performance of 'La Ventana' by the Irish Ballet Company. The first series was subtitled 'The Arts in Ireland' and 'The World of Books' on alternate weeks, with Ciarán MacGonigal presenting the arts editions while Tom McGurk and Patrick Gallagher presented the literary ones. From the second series on, it became a books programme, though still taking an occasional look at theatre and other arts. It ran until 1985.
