John Kelly

The award winning Moo Brew label designs display the works of Australian artist, John Kelly. In response to his sculpture series based on William Dobell's camouflaged cows, Moo Brew commissioned Kelly to produce a series of paintings for the beer labels.

John Kelly's art has always had a strong vein of ironic wit. He became renowned for his incisive depictions of Dobell's Cows. William Dobell, a renowned Australian modernist was, during World War II, bizarrely commissioned to manufacture papier-mache cows and move them around airfields in an attempt to convince the enemy that they were farms. Dobell wryly observed that he thought the authorities underestimated the quality of the eyesight of Japanese airmen.

The consonance between Kelly's cows and the name 'Moo Brew' resulted in Moo Brew approaching him to design our beer labels. Kelly suggested that the connection was a little trite and that he wasn't working with cows anymore. Some negotiation led to labels being commissioned which result from his new direction. On these labels Kelly is railing against apparent corporatizing of art by the Australian Arts Council.

The Council logo consists of an image of the sun and a kangaroo and they insist that the images never be separated or altered. Kelly's beer label designs cleverly embed these logos in an art context. Of particular interest is 'Alien (Skull)' which redefines the Sidney Nolan masterpiece 'The boy and the moon', (also known as 'Moonboy'), using the sun and the ears of the kangaroo from the Council logo. Art in Trade Beyond Moo-ism: if you are dining at Montyís on Montpelier in Hobart or Banc Restaurant Swansea and can tear your eyes away from your plate or partner, for a moment, look out for two of our John Kelly oils.

The distinctive Moo Brew black and gold colour scheme and bottle shape are Trademarks of Moo Brew Estate Pty Ltd.

www.johnkelly.eu