ABOUT JOHN

John Kelly is a performance and visual artist. As writer, director, choreographer, and vocalist, he has received major honors ranging a 2013 USA Artists Award Fellowship, to the 2007 Rome Prize at the American Academy in Rome. His character driven dance theatre works range from solo to large group, and have often focused on autobiographical, cultural, political issues, the challenges faced by social outsiders, and the nature of creative genius. Subjects have included the history of gay persecution, 20th Century tattoo culture, the Berlin Wall, the AIDS epidemic, Mythology, Expressionistic Film, as well as character studies based on Egon Schiele, Caravaggio, Antonin Artaud, Joni Mitchell, and Jean Cocteau.

Kelly grew up intending to pursue a career in visual art, but teenage exposure to the dance compelled him to receive a scholarship to study at The American Ballet Theatre School, and work as a trainee with the Harkness Ballet. He also danced with modern dance pioneer Charles Weidman before abandoning dance to pursue his initial visual art calling, at which point he studied painting, drawing and printmaking at Parsons School of Design and Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts School. He returned to performing in the early 1980’s – initially in the club scene that flourished in New York’s East Village, developing a repertoire of short works that evolved into larger multi-media productions that have been commissioned by and performed in venues ranging from La Mama to The Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival.

Since then, Kelly has created over 40 performance works, some based on existing cultural icons, and other more personal works that stem from personal experience and autobiography. His latest group work UNDERNEATH THE SKIN (based on the life of 20th century novelist and tattoo artist Samuel Steward) premiered at Skirball Cultural Center, and subsequently performed at La MaMa, E.T.C. These works have been commissioned by MET Live Arts, The Kitchen, Skirball Center, La MaMa, Lincoln Center, the Whitney Biennial, NY Live Arts, BAM’s Next Wave Festival, and London’s Tate Modern.

Kelly’s work has received 2 Bessie Awards, 2 Obie Awards, 2 NEA Awards American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius Awards, a CalArts/ Alpert Award in Dance/Performance, a Visual AIDS Vanguard Award, the Ethyl Eichelberger Award, and a Mabou Mines ‘Ruthie’ Award. Fellowships include The Rome Price in Visual Art at American Academy in Rome, The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, The Guggenheim Foundation, The Sundance Theatre Institute, Baryshnikov Arts, The Jerome Robbins Foundation, New York Foundation for the Arts, Art Matters, Inc., and USA Artists. Creative residencies include Yaddo, MacDowell, The Park Avenue Armory, Civitella Ranieri, The Bogliasco Foundation, and the LMCC Process Space Artist in Residence Program. He was a Guest Lecturer at Harvard University and Visiting Artist in Residence at Bard College. Mentorship involvement includes the Queer Art Mentorship program, the Helix Queer Performance Network, and The Award: NYC.

Kelly’s visual artwork involves self-portraiture, including drawing and painting, photography and video; two of his films (THE DAGMAR ONASSIS STORY and THE MONA LISA) are in the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art. SIDEWAYS INTO THE SHADOWS was a solo exhibition that included 54 hand drawn memorial portraits of friends and lovers lost to the AIDS epidemic. He just completing work on his first graphic memoir A FRIEND GAVE ME A BOOK.

CHRONOLOGY

PERFORMANCE WORKS

2025 WEILL BOY/BRECHT GIRL/EISLER MANN
2019/2022 UNDERNEATH THE SKIN
2017/2018 TIME NO LINE
2015 LOVE OF A POET (Reconstruction/Revision)
2011 THE ESCAPE ARTIST
2011 FIND MY WAY HOME (Reconstruction/Revision)
2010 COHESION
2010 PASS THE BLUTWURST, BITTE (Reconstruction/Revision)
2009/10 PAVED PARADISE
2006 MRS. HAMLET
2004 THE SKIN I’M IN
2002 THE PARADISE PROJECT
2001 BROTHER
1999 MOONDRUNK
1999 CAFÉ BLUEBEARD HOF
1998 LIFE OF CRUELTY
1995 CONSTANT STRANGER
1993 LIGHT SHALL LIFT THEM

1992 DIVINE PROMISCUE
1992 AKIN: TRUE BUT DOUR

1991 MAYBE IT’S COLD OUTSIDE
1990 DOWN IN THE MOUTH
1990 THE DAGMAR ONASSIS STORY (reconstruction)
1990 CUPID AND DEATH
1988 ODE TO A CUBE
1986 BORN WITH THE MOON IN CANCER
1985/6 DIARY OF A SOMNAMBULIST
1985 LONG LIVE THE KNIFE
1984 GO WEST JUNGER MANN

PERFORMANCE WORKS IN CLUBS

1985 ST. GEORGE KILLED THE DRAGON
1984 PIERROT, PIRRETTE, PET
1984 TRANS SIBERIAN EXPRESS
1984 THE DAGMAR ONASSIS STORY
1983 S. SEBASTIANO
1983 NARCISSUS
1983 THE FORCES OF DESTINY
1983 PASS THE KNACHWURST, BITTE
1983 THE MONA LISA
1983 DEATH IN DALLAS
1982 LIFE WITHOUT GRACE
1982 ANNA KARENINA
1982 LA DIVINA
1981 MARIA IN RIO
1981 ORFEO
1980 DAGMAR A MACBETTO

CONCERT PERFORMANCE WORKS

2025 WEILL BOY / BRECHT GIRL / EISLER MANN
2023-25 RIMBAUD HATTIE
2019 WEILL PROJECT
2019 THE CRAZY CRIES OF LOVE
2018 DOWN TO YOU: JOHN KELLY SINGS JONI MITCHELL
2016 CARAVAGGIO SONGS: MUSIC FROM THE ESCAPE ARTIST
2013 REBEL SONGS OF A RANGE QUEEN
2012 JOHN KELY & DARGELOS
2009 SONGS FOR A SHINY HOT NIGHT: JONI MITCHELL’S COURT AND SPARK
2007 MUSIC FOR ROMANIANS
2006 21ST CENTURY VOX
2004/05 SHINY HOT NIGHTS
2003 GET UP AND JIVE
1998 SING LOW SWEET LOVE
1996 20TH CENTURY VOX
1994 FAR CRY FROM BLISS: DAGMAR ONASSIS IN CONCERT
1993 I WANT YOUR MYTH: DAGMAR ONASSIS IN CONCERT
1992 ARIAS I LOVE: DAGMAR ONASSIS IN CONCERT
1991 HER TENDER MOMENT: DAGMAR ONASSIS IN CONCERT
1985/90 JOHN KELLY SINGS

AWARDS

2020 THE RUTH MALECZECH RUTHIE AWARD
2013 USA ARTISTS AWARD ‘Gracie’ Fellowship
2013 The OSCAR WILDE WAS RIGHT: AN ECHO IS OFTEN MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN THE VOICE IT REPEATS OTTO RETTER AWARD
2011 NEA AMERICAN MASTERPIECES (Dance) AWARD, for FIND MY WAY HOME
2011 ETHYL EICHELBERGER AWARD
2010 NEA AMERICAN MASTERPIECES (Dance) AWARD, for PASS THE BLUTWURST, BITTE
2010 VISUAL AIDS VANGUARD AWARD
2006-07 ROME PRIZE IN VISUAL ART, The American Academy In Rome
2005 ELLIOT NORTON AWARD, Outstanding Actor Large Ensemble, for DIDO, QUEEN OF CARTHAGE, A.R.T.
2001 Cal/Arts ALPERT AWARD, in Dance/Performance
1991 OBIE AWARD
1988 BESSIE AWARD
1987 OBIE AWARD
1986 BESSIE AWARD
1985 NEFFERTITTI AWARD The Pyramid Club

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