Biography
John Keane (b. Hertfordshire, UK 1954) attended Camberwell School of Art. His work has focused on many of the most pressing political questions of our age, and in 1991 he was appointed as official British war artist during the Gulf War. His work is concerned with conflict - military, political and social - in Britain and around the world and his subjects have included Northern Ireland, Central America, and the Middle East, sometimes working with organisations such as Greenpeace and Christian Aid. Keane has also addressed topics relating to religiously inspired terrorism such as Guantanamo Bay, the Moscow theatre siege, and home-grown acts of violence against civilians. Keane has also received commissions for portraits of notable individuals such as Mo Mowlam (1949-2005), MP and former Secretery State for Northern Ireland (National Portait Gallery, London); former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan (1938-2018) and journalist Jon Snow. In 2016, he created a well-received film for Benjamin Britten's Canticle III in a theatrical production commissioned by Aldeburgh Music and the Brighton Festival. The Contemporary Art Society has acquired works by Keane and presented them to Gallery Oldham; MIMA, Middlesbrough; Bolton Museum and Art Gallery; and The Harris, Preston.
