John Keane (artist)

John Granville Colpoys Keane (born 12 September 1954) is a British artist, whose paintings have contemporary political and social themes.

Life and work

John Keane was born in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, England. He was educated at Wellington College (1968–72) and Camberwell School of Art"Staff profiles: John Keane"
, Camberwell School of Art. Retrieved 27 November 2007. (1972–76).

He is a political painter, whose subjects often concern contentious political, social and military issues."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.

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.

His more recent work, ''Guantanamerica'', bases paintings about "issues of representation and dehumanisation of detainees at Guantánamo Bay" on low resolution internet files.

In 2010, he became known for a commissioned portrait of the former Secretary General of the UN Kofi Annan.

In November 2019, along with other public figures, Keane signed a letter supporting Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn describing him as "a beacon of hope in the struggle against emergent far-right nationalism, xenophobia and racism in much of the democratic world" and endorsed him in the 2019 UK general election.

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

Bibliography

Exhibition Catalogues
*''John Keane: Back to Fundamentals'' atalogue of the exhibition held at Flowers East 14 February – 14 March 2003London.
*''John Keane: Fifty Seven Hours in the House of Culture'' atalogue of the exhibition held at Flowers East 31 March – 30 April 2006London.
*''John Keane: Guantanamerica'' atalogue of the exhibition held at Flowers 2006New York.
*''John Keane: Gulf'' atalogue of the exhibition held at The Imperial War Museum 26 March – 31 May 1992London.
*''John Keane: Intelligent Design'' atalogue of the exhibition held at Flowers East 20 March – 18 April 2009London.
*''John Keane: Making a Killing'' atalogue of the exhibition held at Flowers East 2000London.
*''John Keane: Saving the Bloody Planet'' atalogue of the exhibition held at Flowers East 2001London.
*''John Keane: The Struggle for the Control of the Television Station'' atalogue of the exhibition held at Flowers East 1 July – 1 August 1993London.
*''John Keane: Truth, Lies, & Super-8'' atalogue of the exhibition held at Flowers East 27 September – 26 October 1997London.

Monographs
*Lawson, M. (1995) ''Conflicts of Interest: John Keane.'' Mainstream Publishing, Edinburgh

References

External links

John Keane official web siteJohn Keane at Flowers East galleryJohn Keane's Moscow diary

John Keane at National Portrait Gallery, London (npg.org.uk)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Keane, John
1954 births
Living people
20th-century English painters
English male painters
21st-century English painters
British war artists
People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire
People from Harpenden
Artists commissioned by the Imperial War Museum
English contemporary artists
Alumni of Camberwell College of Arts
20th-century English male artists
21st-century English male artists