John Kearney (artist)
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
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e8/Kearney_moose.jpg/200px-Kearney_moose.jpg)
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 Contemporary Art Workshop 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
- Goudy 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
- Dallas Museum of Natural History, Dallas, Texas, and Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum, Grand Prairie, Texas (Chromosaurs: Tyrannosaurus rex, Stegosaurus, and Triceratops)
- Boys and Girls Club of Fayetteville, Arkansas (life-size giraffe and gorilla)
- Mitchell Museum, Mt. Vernon, Illinois (one horse)
- Ulrich Museum, Wichita State University, Kansas (Grandfather's Horse)
- Delano Park, Delano, Wichita, Kansas on the Chisholm Trail (one of Two Steers)
- Maize South High School, Maize Kansas (one of Two Steers)
- Hudson Welding and Fabricating, 326 St. Paul Street, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada (life sized giraffe known locally as Gerry)
References
- ^ "John Kearney Obituary". http://www.cremation-society.com/. Cremation Society of Illinois. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
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- ^ Descriptive plaque on Moose (W-02-03)
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on August 18, 2005. Retrieved July 1, 2006.
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External links
- Contemporary Arts Workshop
- Location of Outdoor Sculpture in Chicago
- Longer review at Berta Walker Gallery
- List of outdoor sculptures on Anatomically Correct
- Chicago Tribune article on the Goudy School sculpture
- Kimball the Horse, located at the Mitchell Museum, Mt. Vernon, Illinois
- History of "Herald [sic] the Ram" at McCormick seminary
- Another version of "Herald [sic] the Ram"
- Kearney's Chromosaurs Sculptures on YouTube
- Herod, Doug. 2013. The long journey from eyesore to St. Catharines Landmark. St. Catharines Standard, October 4th. 2013.