Irish DJ Mo Kelly joins Bob Geldof, Bruce Springsteen and Bono with her charitable artwork

Irish artist and DJ Mo Kelly has told how she knew she wanted to be a painter from a young age — and how “there was always art equipment” growing up.

The Dubliner is one of the artists taking part in the Incognito Art Sale, which launched earlier this week. The pieces of artwork will go on sale on April 24.

Buyers won’t know who’s artwork they have purchased until after the sale has ended.

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Funds raised through the sale will go to the Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation.

And Kelly told Chic how she feels lucky that her parents encouraged her creative interests from a young age.

She said, “I think I painted before I even wrote — there was always art equipment.

“Both my parents were teachers and anything that you showed interest in creatively, you were always allowed to explore — I was very, very fortunate in that.”

Kelly recalled how she “kind of decided ‘I want to be an artist’ when I was about 12” and how she would often attend art exhibitions with her mother.

She continued, “I remember the first exhibition I went to — we had a book on Turner at home, and my mom had explained to me about it, and I’d read it and looked at all the paintings.

“And then she brought me to the National Gallery to see them, and I burst into tears. They were so big.

“I had assumed they were going to be small, because I’d only seen them in the book — but they were huge. And that really had a big impact on me.

“I’ve just always loved experiencing art in the gallery.”

Kelly, who has been a part of the Incognito Art Sale for the last eight years, told how it was a “very easy decision” to get involved with the sale — especially as it fundraises for the Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation.

Funds raised throughout the sale will translate into specialist in-home nursing care hours for more than 400 children who have highly complex medical conditions and who live in communities across the country.

Jack and Jill also provides end-of-life care for all children up to the age of six, irrespective of diagnosis.

Each postcard-sized artwork costs €65 and features a variety of media including traditional pastels, watercolours, oils, ink, and charcoal — as well as felt, glass, ceramic, wax, and wool

And the artist told how the idea behind the sale is “such a clever idea from an artist’s perspective”.

She said, “Just the idea that there’s loads of other artists working at the same time and everybody’s trying to come up with something to put on their three postcard canvases — or however many that you do.

“It’s just such a novel experience, I think, as an artist — to be involved with other artists, as well, and then obviously getting to see whatever everybody does and trying to guess which artist [did the work].

“I’d know some of the artists, and I’d know their work — I’d know other artists personally. You’re trying to see who did it. It’s completely anonymous — you don’t sign the front of the card, you sign the back of it.

“I remember, I think that was the first thing that caught me. I thought, ‘that’s a really clever idea’. I had actually been to an exhibition similar to this with artists who were anonymous. I thought it was a really good idea.

“So when they contacted me about it — the Jack and Jill Foundation made this even easier to say yes, because obviously their work is so important. It’s literally a kind of art for care, and it’s a great swap. It was a very easy decision, I think — it’s a very easy decision to support them.

“It’s just such a clever and interesting idea to be involved with as an artist, I think.”

And it’s not just artists taking part in the sale, with Bob Geldof, Bruce & Pattie Springsteen, Bono, The Edge and Ronnie Wood among those to have taken part in the past.

Kelly told how the size of the canvases makes things “a bit of a challenge” — but that there’s a “bit of a buzz” while taking part in it.

She said, “It’s also interesting for an artist — I work quite large, most of my work would be quite big and I wouldn’t really do postcard-sized art. It’s a bit of a challenge, in that way, as well. You have to try and find something that’s your style and is true to your style, but you’re working in a different way.

“It’s interesting because it can take as long, if not longer, than a bigger piece because it’s a lot more detailed. You feel like it has to stand alone, because it can be viewed alongside possibly some of the most famous artists in the world and the most accomplished; you really want to make sure that it looks the part.

“There’s just a bit of a buzz.

“A lot of times as an artist, you’re exhibiting on your own. I had a solo exhibit last November and it was just me — it’s a very different experience, when you’re exhibiting or getting to work together with a community of other artists.

“I certainly really enjoy it, knowing that other people are working on it at the same time.

“I follow a lot of other artists on Instagram and have met artists through this charity, as well. You see people posting about, ‘oh, I got my cards’ or ‘I’m thinking about what I’m going to do this year’. Obviously, nobody posts anything — it’s all a complete secret, so they don’t post any of the images beforehand —but you know that they’re working on it.

“Around this time of year, people might post last year’s work. At this point, it’s been sold. And that’s a really nice element, as well — it’s my eighth year, and every year I get emails from people who bought the art going, ‘ah, I got your art!’.

“Some people would be looking at the website and go, ‘oh, I think I found yours’. But then you also get communications for people after, saying ‘I bought your work’. It’s really lovely, and I think it adds to the whole experience for an artist.”

Kelly told how she “developed a robust imagination or imaginary realm” growing up, which influenced her art — and opened up about her careers as an artist and DJ.

She said, “I used to draw emotions; I’d have shapes for emotions and things like that. That’s kind of still stuck with me.

“That’s what I would do, I think, no matter what — even though I DJ as well, and I adore music, but that’s a completely different thing for me.

“Art, I suppose, would be my first love — the thing that is completely necessary for me to do it. I don’t find it relaxing or anything like that, it’s quite stressful because I have an idea in my head and I’m trying to execute it. So, that’s the sort of process.

“Whereas with music, it would be a very different thing. It’s a lot more social, whereas with art it’s completely isolating as you do it on your own. And then eventually, you have an exhibition — but with DJing, you’re out there the whole time. It’s a completely different thing.

“I think they balance each other out really, really well and help feed each other.

“I think that one on its own could get to be too much, so they balance each other out.”

Kelly — who began to pursue music as a career when she was in college — told how she “definitely” finds her work as a DJ influences her art.

She said, “I mean, a lot of my art is set at night time, or kind of nocturnal, dark scenes. I use a lot of goldleaf, and sort of iridescent paints and things like that — and charcoal. So, there’s a big contrast.

“And you know that old adage, ‘write what you know?’ It’s kind of ‘paint what you know’, is what I think.

“I love that sort of…I call it the trickery of twilight, but it’s that light where things are a little bit glowly and they seem a little bit abstract; things can kind of morph.

“My work is pretty figurative, but it’s going into abstract. So it leaves a little bit of space for that as well.

“When it comes to practice, I tend to paint in silence. When I’m doing my prep, I listen to music — but when it comes to the actual execution, the studio is generally quiet because that’s the bit where…the music, it just distracts me too much. I’m too into music to be able to listen to it and just block it out.

“I need silence for the bit where I’m trying to work it out. But then when I know — if I’m doing varnishing, or if there’s something that’s a method, or the prep work, then I’ll listen to music.

“And music also inspires me. Sometimes, the vibe of the music can cross over a bit — but for the actual difficult bit, I find I need silence.”

Kelly also shared some of the stand-out moments from her career so far — including the one that was “kind of all my worlds coming together perfectly”.

She said, “I mean, recently with art, I had — growing up, I was a total bibliophile and loved reading. I always had a thing where I thought, ‘to be able to do a book cover, wouldn’t that be amazing?’ And it actually happened.
“There was a fabulous book by Rosaleen McDonagh called Unsettled. It was an absolutely brilliant, brilliant read.”

The artist added that it was a “total dream come true”.

She continued, “The publishers called me and asked if they could use a painting that I’d done four or five years previously.

“It had really spoke to the author. She had seen it, and decided that that was what she would really love to use as her cover art.

“That was a dream come true and was kind of all my worlds coming together perfectly.

“My mom passed away when I was just 30 — and I could feel her hand in that. That was one of those things where I went, ‘oh my god, my mom would have absolutely loved this’.”

Kelly added that on the musical side, there have been many great moments so far — including supporting Groove Armada.

She said, “Musically, I’ve had so much fun DJing. I love doing festivals, that’s always really fun because your mates are always there. I’ve other friends that are DJs and it’s just really good fun to be all together, and all that.”

To register for Incognito, visit www.incognito.ie , and to check out the work of the Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation, visit www.jackandjill.ie . Follow all the latest Incognito developments on Facebook at www.facebook.com/2024incognito #Art4Care #Incognito2024