John Keane (artist)

John Keane (born 1954) is a British artist, whose paintings have contemporary political and social themes.

Life and work

John Keane was born in Hertfordshire, England. 1972–76, he attended Camberwell School of Art. [http://www.camberwell.arts.ac.uk/26777.htm "Staff profiles: John Keane"] , Camberwell School of Art. Retrieved 27 November 2007.]

He is a political painter, whose subjects often concern contentious political, social and military issues. [http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp59339&role=art "John Keane"] , National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 27 November 2007.]

In 1990, the Imperial War Museum commissioned him as an official war artist in the Gulf War.

2001–02, he exhibited paintings which were derived from an expedition with Greenpeace during their campaign in the Amazon against illegal logging.

In 2002, he painted Mo Mowlam, former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. The original idea was to represent her with other major figures in the Good Friday Agreement (Gerry Adams, John Hume and David Trimble), but four years of talks as to where the individuals should be placed ended with Trimble's withdrawal and the plan was abandoned. [Gibbons, Fiachra. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,635211,00.html "Portrait of ex-minister as secular saint"] , "The Guardian", 18 January 2002. Retrieved 27 November 2007.]

In 2004, he toured his show, "The Inconvenience of History", internationally. This was based on trips in liaison with Christian Aid to the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He also worked on paintings about the 2002 Moscow Theatre siege, using documentary footage as a source: "The process has continued my methods of developing the imagery with the aid of a computer, prior to committing paint to canvas in works both large and small scale."

In 2006, "57 Hours in the House of Culture" was a show at Flowers East gallery, London, and Sakharov Museum, Moscow, about the Chechen War.

More recent work, "Guantanamerica", bases paintings about "issues of representation and dehumanisation of detainees at Guantanemo Bay" on low resolution internet files.

He is a visiting research fellow at Camberwell College of Arts.

Residencies and commissions

These include:
*2002 Project in Israel with Christian Aid
*2005 Portrait for the National Portrait Gallery of Sir Bill Morris
*2006 Portrait for the BBC of Greg Dyke
*2006 Project in Angola with Christian Aid

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.johnkeaneart.com John Keane official web site]
* [http://www.flowerseast.com/FE/Artists_Originals_New.asp?Artist=KEANE John Keane at Flowers East gallery]
* [http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=7927 John Keane's Moscow diary]
* [http://www.state-of-art.org/state-of-art/ISSUE%20THREE/KEANE3.html John Keane on the Turner Prize]