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John Kirby is a British artist known for his paintings exploring issues of gender, religion, sexuality, and race. His work has been compared to that of Rene Magritte, but Kirby has listed his primary influences as Balthus and Edward Hopper. He has been exhibited internationally and his work is held in several collections including the Tate Gallery, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and the Royal College of Art.

Early Life
John Kirby was born in Liverpool in 1949 and grew up in Tuebrook. He was raised Irish Catholic and attended Saint Cecilia’s primary school as well as serving as an altar boy. When he was 16, Kirby left Liverpool to work in London as a shipping clerk and then decided to travel to Calcutta to help in a children’s home headed by Mother Theresa. After moving back to Liverpool, he trained as a social worker and then worked as a probation officer before enrolling in art school at the age of 33.

Career
Kirby trained at Central Saint Martins and the Royal College of Art in London. He has since created a large body of work that includes both painting and sculpture ; he has cited his religious background as a strong influence, as well as the “ambiguity of sex and gender” in his work. Kirby’s first major retrospective was held at the Walker Art Gallery in 2012, with more than fifty of his paintings and ten of his sculptures. His work has been described as “bleak and lonely” and dominated by “solitary figures in strange worlds.”

Selected Exhibitions
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
 * 2012 The Living and the Dead, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
 * 2010 What Remains, Flowers East, London
 * 2009 Home, Flowers Cork Street, London
 * 2007 Being Alive, Flowers Central, London
 * 2006 Mixed Blood, Flowers, New York
 * 2006 Il Polittico, Rome
 * 2005 Absent Friends, Flowers Central, London
 * 2005 New prints and monoptypes, Flowers Graphics, London
 * 2003 Someone Else Flowers, New York
 * 2002 Flowers Central, London
 * 2002 Paintings, Flowers West, Santa Monica, California
 * 2000 New Prints and Monoprints, Flowers Graphics, London
 * 2000 Il Polittico, Rome
 * 1999 Lost Children, Flowers East, London
 * 1998 Lost Children, Flowers West, Santa Monica, California
 * 1997 In the Dark, Flowers East, London
 * 1997 John Kirby, Il Polittico, Rome
 * 1996 Art Basel 27, Switzerland
 * 1995 The Company of Strangers, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull
 * 1994 The Company of Strangers, Flowers East, London
 * 1993 The Sign of the Cross, Angela Flowers Gallery, London
 * 1992 Homeland, Flowers East, London
 * 1991 Homeland, Lannon Cole Gallery, Chicago
 * 1991 New York and Related Works, Flowers East, London
 * 1989 Still Lives, Flowers East, London
 * 1988 Other People's Lives, Angela Flowers (Ireland) Inc., Co.Cork
 * 1988 Other People's Lives, Angela Flowers (Ireland) Inc., Co.Cork
 * 1987 Artist of the Day, Angela Flowers Gallery, London

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
 * 2010 Personal Agenda, Flowers New York
 * 2010 Un Cibo senza Tempo, Il Polittico, Rome
 * 2010 Standing Room Only, Flowers East, London
 * 2010 40 Years On, Flowers East, London
 * 2009 Small is Beautiful: Nursery Rhymes, Flowers East, London
 * 2009 Victor Felix Gallery, London
 * 2009 Meltdown, Flowers East, London
 * 2009 New Works, Flowers Central, London
 * 2009 White Wedding, Neuberger Museum of Art, New York
 * 2009 Spring Selection, Flowers Upper Gallery, London
 * 2009 Flowers at Palm Beach, Florida
 * 2009 Lower Gallery Hang, Flowers Central, London
 * 2008 Small is Beautiful XXVI: Love, Flowers East, London
 * 2008 My Gay Eye, Werkstattgalerie, Berlin
 * 2007 Small is Beautiful XXV, Flowers Central, London
 * 2007 Small is Beautiful XXV, Flowers Central, London
 * 2007 Michetti Foundation, Francavilla al Mare
 * 2007 Vade Retro: Arte e Omosessualità Da Von Gloeden a Pierre et Gilles, Palazzo della Ragione, Milan
 * 2006 Small is Beautiful XXIV: Portraits, Flowers Central, London
 * 2006 Mixed Blood, Flowers, New York
 * 2006 Heads, Flowers East, London
 * 2006 Gallery Selections, Flowers, New York
 * 2006 Back to the Figure - Contemporary Painting, Kunsthalle der Hypo Kulturstiftung
 * 2005 Spiritus Mundi, Flowers East, London
 * 2005 Die Wiedergefundene Malerei, Kunstraum Palais Porcia, Wien
 * 2005 Per Amore, La Raccolta Caggiano, Salerno
 * 2004 Headstrong, 7 Bedford Row, London
 * 2004 Small is Beautiful: part XXI: War and Peace, Flowers Central, London
 * 2004 5th Anniversary Show, Flowers West, Santa Monica
 * 2002 Small is Beautiful, Flowers East, London
 * 2001 Il Polittico, Rome
 * 2001 5 Painters, Flowers Central, London
 * 2001 Flowers One, Flowers Central, London
 * 2000 Small is Beautiful: Self Portrait, Flowers East, London
 * 2000 Collection Homberg, Museum fur Kommunikation, Frankfurt
 * 2000 Odapark, Venray, Netherlands
 * 2000 Artists’ Choice, Flowers East, London
 * 2000 Angela Flowers Gallery 30th Anniversary Exhibition, Flowers East, London
 * 1999 Small is Beautiful: Part XVII: Millennium, Flowers East, London
 * 1999 Contemporary British Landscape, Flowers East, London
 * 1998 Small is Beautiful: Part XVI: Music, Flowers East, London
 * 1998 Angela Flowers Gallery at Riverside Studios, London
 * 1998 Self Portraits, Six Chapel Row Gallery, Bath
 * 1998 Rene Magritte and Contemporary Art, Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Ostend
 * 1998 New British Painting 1, Flowers West, Santa Monica, California
 * 1997 Small is Beautiful Part XV:Death, Flowers East at London Fields, London
 * 1997 British Figurative Art, Part 1:Painting, Flowers East, London
 * 1997 Print, Riverside Studios, London
 * 1997 Heads, Flowers East at London Fields, London
 * 1997 Summer Exhibition, The Royal Academy of Art, London
 * 1997 Angela Flowers Gallery 1997, Flowers East at London Fields, London
 * 1996 Small is Beautiful: Part XIV: Sex, Flowers East at London Fields, London
 * 1996 Angela Flowers Gallery (Ireland) Inc., Co. Cork
 * 1996 Four British Painters, The John McEnroe Gallery, New York; Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena, California
 * 1996 Naked, Flowers East at London Fields, London
 * 1995 Flights of Angels, The Olde School Gallery, Powys, Wales
 * 1995 Flowers at Koplin, Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles
 * 1995 The Twenty Fifth Anniversary Exhibition, Flowers East at London Fields, London
 * 1994 Downeen Decade,' Angela Flowers (Ireland) Inc., Co.Cork
 * 1994 Back to Basics, A Major Retrospective, Flowers East, London
 * 1994 Inner Visions, Flowers East, London
 * 1993 New Work, Flowers East at London Fields, London
 * 1993 Small is Beautiful Part X1: Homages, Flowers East, London
 * 1993 New Figurative Painting, Salander-O'Reilly Galleries/Fred Hoffman, Beverly Hills, California, USA
 * 1993 Portrait of the Artist's Mother done from Memory, Flowers East, London
 * 1992 Small is Beautiful Part X: Animals, Flowers East, London
 * 1992 Fin quando sara pittura, Il Polittico, Rome
 * 1992 Artist's Choice, Flowers East, London
 * 1991 The Cabinet Show, Gillian Jason Gallery, London
 * 1991 Inaugural Exhibition, Lannon Cole Gallery, Chicago
 * 1991 Angela Flowers Gallery 1991, Flowers East, London
 * 1990 Small is Beautiful Part VIII: The Figure, Flowers East, London
 * 1990 Madonnas, Diorama Gallery, London
 * 1990 The Soul, Diorama Gallery, London
 * 1990 Flowers at Moos, Gallery Moos, New York
 * 1989 Angela Flowers Gallery 1970-1990, Barbican Concourse Gallery, London
 * 1989 Daley, Hicks, Jeffries, Jones, Kirby, Lewis, Flowers East, London
 * 1989 The Thatcher Years; an Artistic Retrospective, Flowers East, London
 * 1989 Big Paintings, Flowers East, London
 * 1989 Sex and Sexuality Festival, Diorama Gallery, London
 * 1988 Figure II Naked: A Private Mythology, Aberystwyth Art Centre; Victoria Art Gallery, Bath; Mide-Pennine Arts Association, Burnley, Lancs; The Arts Centre, Wrexham
 * 1988 The London Influence, Slaughterhouse Gallery, London
 * 1988 Contemporary Portraits, Flowers East, London
 * 1987 Flowers, Anne Berthoud Gallery, London
 * 1987 The Self Portrait: A Modern View, Artsite Gallery, Bath and touring
 * 1987 Three Artists Show, Underground Gallery, Bath
 * 1986 New Acquaintance, Fabian Carlsson Gallery, London
 * 1986 John Player Portrait Exhibition, National Portrait Gallery, London
 * 1986 One Year On, International Contemporary Art Fair, Olympia, London
 * 1986 Canvas Two, John Hansard Gallery, Southampton and Milton Keynes
 * 1985 ’85 Degrees Show, Serpentine Gallery, London
 * 1984 John Player Portrait Award Exhibition, National Portrait Gallery, London

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
 * Contemporary Art Society
 * Ferens Art Gallery, Hull
 * Irish Contemporary Art Society
 * John Hansard Gallery, University of Southampton
 * Royal College of Art Collection
 * Tate Gallery, London
 * University College of Wales, Aberystwyth
 * Victoria & Albert Museum
 * Rene Magritte Foundation, Brussels