John Kindness Explained

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 Belfast, Northern Ireland. He attended the Belfast College of Art and now lives and works in London.

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 cabs, equating the significance and stature of contemporary life with that of classical times. He is also known for his use of tiles 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.^[1]

Work in collections or on display

• A Mummer's Banquet (2019),^[2] Clone Learning Centre at Hillsborough Castle.
• Odysseus^[3] (2012), Galway Arts Festival^[4]
• The Labor Monument: Philadelphia's Tribute to the American Worker (2010), Elmwood Park, Philadelphia (commissioned by the Association for Public Art)^[5]

• The Big Fish (1999),^[6] Donegall Quay, Belfast
• Romulus and Seamas (1992),^[7] F.E. McWilliam Gallery, Banbridge.
• Waterfall of Souvenirs (1991),^[8] (removed/missing 12 February 2022)
• The Art Council of Northern Ireland, including:
  • Hermes (1990)^[9]
• The Victoria and Albert Museum, London
• The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin
• The Boston Museum of Fine Art, Boston
• The Ulster Museum, Belfast, including:
  • The Belfast Frescoes
• The Imperial War Museum, London, including:
  • Sectarian Armour (1994)
• The Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, Dublin, including:
  • Monkey and Dog (1986)^[10]
• The Arts Council of Ireland:
  • Winged Sneaker (1990)
  • Design for a New Bridge Across the River Liffey

See also

• List of Northern Irish artists

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
• Description of a gallery exhibition on the Art in Context site

Notes and References

1. https://archive.today/20140812014313/http://gottliebfoundation.org/announcements/individual-support-grant-recipients-2014/ Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Grant Recipients 2014
2. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/new-artwork-at-hillsborough-castle-is-feast-for-human-eye-38142040.html New Artwork at Hillsborough Castle is feast for human eye, Belfast Telegraph, 24 May 2019
3. Web site: 2014 John Kindness. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20151120005754/http://www.johnkindness.co.uk/2014-2/. 2015-11-20.
4. Web site: John Kindness | Galway International Arts Festival.
5. Web site: Archived copy . 2013-01-14 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150914201106/http://associationforpublicart.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Labor_Monument_Installation_Press_Release_12-2010.pdf . 2015-09-14 .
6. Web site: Arts Council of Northern Ireland . 2012-10-23 . Artscouncil-ni.org . 22 January 2003 . https://web.archive.org/web/20030122071407/http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/publicart/tour/tour13.htm . dead .
7. https://www.newrymournedown.org/john-kindness-sculpture-comes-to-down-county-musuem John Kindness Sculpture Comes to Down County Museum, website of Newry, Mourne and Down district council, 7 June 2016.
8. Web site: Ulsterbus Station in Glengall Street, Belfast . Artscouncil-ni.org . 2012-10-23.
9. Web site: Hermes (1990) by John Kindness (b. 1951, Belfast) . Artscouncil-ni.org . 2012-10-23.
10. Web site: Coffee Conversations . . 26 November 2014 . 7 October 2015 .