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John Kindness (born 1951) is an Irish artist working a range of media including sculpture and painting. His work often contrasts material, image and reference in an unusual and humorous way.
Kindness was born in
Odysseus
' (2012),
The Labor Monument: Philadelphia's Tribute to the American Worker
' (2010), Elmwood Park, Philadelphia (commissioned by the Association for Public Art)
* '' The Big Fish'' (1999), Donegall Quay, Belfast
* ''Romulus and Seamas'' (1992), F.E. McWilliam Gallery, Banbridge.
* ''Waterfall of Souvenirs'' (1991), (removed/missing 12 February 2022)
* The Art Council of Northern Ireland, including:
** ''Hermes'' (1990)
* The
Personal statement in ''Zone Zero'' magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kindness, John Painters from Northern Ireland Sculptors from Northern Ireland Multimedia artists from Northern Ireland Artists from Belfast 1951 births Living people Alumni of Ulster University
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. He attended the Belfast College of Art and now lives and works in London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
.
Typical of Kindness's work is the ''Treasures of New York'' series he produced when he spent time in New York in the early 1990s. Here, scenes inspired by contemporary life but modelled in style on Athenian ceramics are painted on panels from New York yellow cab
Yellow cab taxicab operators exist all around the world (some with common heritage, some without). The original Yellow Cab Company, based in Chicago, Illinois, was one of the largest taxicab companies in the United States.
History
Yellow ca ...
s, equating the significance and stature of contemporary life with that of classical times. He is also known for his use of tiles
Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...
in sculpture, often contrasting the domestic and static association of tiling with a dynamic and epic subject.
In 2014, he received an Individual Support Award from the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation The Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation was established in 1976. It is an American nonprofit organization that provides funding for the arts.
History
The Gottlieb Foundation was established after Adolph Gottlieb’s death in 1974. Esther Gottlieb ...
.
Work in collections or on display
* ''A Mummer's Banquet'' (2019), Clone Learning Centre at Hillsborough Castle. *Odysseus
' (2012),
Galway Arts Festival
The Galway International Arts Festival (GIAF), founded in 1978, is a cultural organization that produces an annual arts festival in Galway, Ireland. It also produces new work that tours nationally and internationally, in addition to presenting ...
*The Labor Monument: Philadelphia's Tribute to the American Worker
' (2010), Elmwood Park, Philadelphia (commissioned by the Association for Public Art)
* '' The Big Fish'' (1999), Donegall Quay, Belfast
* ''Romulus and Seamas'' (1992), F.E. McWilliam Gallery, Banbridge.
* ''Waterfall of Souvenirs'' (1991), (removed/missing 12 February 2022)
* The Art Council of Northern Ireland, including:
** ''Hermes'' (1990)
* The Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
, London
* The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin
* The Boston Museum of Fine Art
The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
, Boston
* The Ulster Museum
The Ulster Museum, located in the Botanic Gardens in Belfast, has around 8,000 square metres (90,000 sq. ft.) of public display space, featuring material from the collections of fine art and applied art, archaeology, ethnography, treasure ...
, Belfast, including:
** ''The Belfast Frescoes''
* The Imperial War Museum, London, including:
** ''Sectarian Armour'' (1994)
* The Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery
The Hugh Lane Gallery, officially Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane and originally the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, is an art museum operated by Dublin City Council and its subsidiary, the Hugh Lane Gallery Trust. It is in Charlemont House ...
, Dublin, including:
** ''Monkey and Dog'' (1986)
* The Arts Council of Ireland:
** ''Winged Sneaker'' (1990)
** ''Design for a New Bridge Across the River Liffey''
See also
*List of Northern Irish artists
This is a list of notable artists born in Northern Ireland.
__NOTOC__
A
* Arthur Armstrong (1924–1996)
*Array Collective (active 2016–present) –Northern Irish collective of artists and activists who won the 2021 Turner Prize
B
* James B ...
References
Further reading
* Barbara Dawson, "Kindness, John" in Brian Lalor (Ed.), ''The Encyclopedia of Ireland''. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan.External links
Personal statement in ''Zone Zero'' magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kindness, John Painters from Northern Ireland Sculptors from Northern Ireland Multimedia artists from Northern Ireland Artists from Belfast 1951 births Living people Alumni of Ulster University