John Kearney (artist)

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For other people with the same name, see John Kearney (disambiguation).

John Kearney (August 31, 1924 – August 10, 2014[1]) was a Chicago- and Provincetown-based American artist famous for making figurative sculptures, often of animals, using multiple, found metal objects, specifically bumpers from automobiles.

Life[]

Moose, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Kearney received his artistic education at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and the Universita per Stranieri in Perugia, Italy. In 1950, he co-founded the in Chicago. Subsequently, he has lived and worked in Italy many times, most notably in Rome in 1963 and 1964 while on a Fulbright Award and again in 1985 and 1992 while serving as a visiting artist at the American Academy in Rome.

Kearney learned his welding skills as a World War II U.S. Navy sailor while performing underwater repair of naval vessels.[2]

Awards[]

  • Fulbright Award to Rome in 1963–64
  • Italian Government Grant in 1963–64
  • Visiting Artists at America Academy in Rome, 1985 and 1992

Collections that own Kearney's work[]

  • Aon (Standard Oil Building) in Chicago
  • Detroit Children's Museum
  • Illinois State Capitol Visitors Center, Springfield, Illinois
  • Springfield Art Association, Springfield, Illinois
  • Mitchell Museum, Mt. Vernon, Illinois
  • Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
  • Ulrich Museum, Wichita, Kansas
  • Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, Illinois
  • Canton Museum of Art, Canton, Ohio

Solo exhibitions[]

  • New York City at A.C.A. Gallery, 1964 to 1979
  • Berta Walker Gallery, Provincetown, Massachusetts, 1992 to 1997

Outdoor sculpture[]

In Chicago area

  • Academy of Science (T. rex)
  • Aon (formerly the Amoco Building and the Standard Oil Building) (three deer)
  • Chicago Park District (two life size Horses)
  • Clark and Deming intersection (two goats)
  • Roscoe and Elaine Place intersection (two giraffes)(removed)
  • Cornelia and Elaine Place intersection ("Nanny Goat") (removed)
  • Field Museum, South Entrance (two bronzes)
  • Field Museum, penguin and deer inside an exhibit.
  • Francis Parker School
  • (double life-size cougar – the School Mascot)
  • Lincoln Park Zoo (chromium-plated bull elephant) – the zoo did not take proper care of these sculptures, and they were removed due to damage.
  • McCormick Seminary, Hyde Park, on University Avenue north of 55th Street (a large ram, named "Herald", pun referring to the Hyde Park Herald newspaper)[3]
  • Michigan Avenue Magnificent Mile (moose)
  • Museum of Science and Industry (life-size gorilla)
  • Oakton Community College
  • Oz Park (the Tin Man (1995), Cowardly Lion (2001), Scarecrow (2005), and Dorothy and Toto (2007) from The Wizard of Oz)
  • Sedgwick, 1800 block (two horses)
  • Uptown Hull House (gorilla)
  • Andersonville Residence (life-size Kodiak bear)

Elsewhere

References[]

  1. ^ "John Kearney Obituary". cremation-society.com/. Cremation Society of Illinois. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
  2. ^ Descriptive plaque on Moose (W-02-03)
  3. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on August 18, 2005. Retrieved July 1, 2006.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links[]

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