User:Sandyscott1996/sandbox


 * name         = Joseph Kerr


 * image        =
 * imagesize    =
 * caption      =
 * birth_name    =
 * birth_date    = September 25, 1955
 * birth_place   = Lanarkshire, Scotland
 * death_date    =
 * death_place   =
 * nationality  = British
 * field        = Sculpture; photography
 * training     = Glasgow School of Art (1973–1977)
 * movement     = Environmental art and land art
 * patrons      =
 * influenced by = Richard Long; Robert Smithson; Tony Jones; Paul Nash; David Nash
 * influenced   =
 * awards       = Scottish Arts Council Award (1986); honorary degree from the Glasgow School of Art (1993);

Joseph Kerr (born 25 September 1955) is a British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist producing site-specific sculpture and land art situated in natural and urban settings. He lives and works in Scotland.

Early life
The son of James Kerr (1929–2015),Joseph Kerr was born in Lanarkshire. From the age of 13 he worked on farms as a labourer and also in his father's shop. He has likened the repetitive quality of farm tasks to the routine of making sculpture:

Kerr studied fine art at Glasgow School of Art receiving his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree from the latter.

Career
After leaving Art School, Kerr lived in Skye for a year working as a farmers labourer. After returning from Skye he continued to work in his home town Carnwath in Lanarkshire. In 1990, he moved to Earlston in Scottish Borders, Berwickshire, Scotland. His move from Lanarkshire to Carnwath was "due to a way of life over which he did not have complete control", but that contributing factors were the loss of his artwork in his studio fire and the death of relatives". {{cite web|title= Rediscovering the artist Joseph Kerr |url=https://josephkerrarchive.com |publisher= scottii2009@hotmail.co.uk |accessdate=04 May 2018

In 1993, he received an honorary degree from the Glasgow School of Art.

Joseph Kerr presented in lots of exhibitions all over Scotland. one of his exhibitions was at the Third Eye Centre in Glasgow and his work can be seen in collections of the Glenkiln Sculpture Park and Lucy Abel Smith.

Photography plays a crucial role in his art due to its often ephemeral and transient state. According to Kerr, "Each work grows, stays, decays – integral parts of a cycle which the photograph shows at its heights, marking the moment when the work is most alive. Kerr produced a commissioned work for the entry Open Air Sculptures, which echoes the changing nature and surrounding landscape.

Art process
The materials used in Joseph Kerr's art often include stone, ice, leaves, mud, pinecones, sand, wood and slate. Kerr is generally considered one of the founders of modern rock balancing. For his ephemeral works, Kerr often uses only his bare hands, and found tools to prepare and arrange the materials; however, for his permanent sculptures he has also employed the use of machine tools. Kerr also worked with his tools to produce prints and painting. he also had a team of helpers that would help him out on big projects.

Personal life
Kerr worked and lived in Carnwath for much of his life. After he returned from Skye Kerr worked in his fathers shop to earn a living. while working with his father he acquired a studio space in the old school building at the top of the town. Kerr rented his studio off a roofing and joinery company that also used the building. In 1982, Kerr married Gillian McDonald a farmers daughter from the Scottish borders. They later had three children and lived in Carnwath until 1990 before moving and settling in the village of Earlston in the region of the Scottish Borders, Berwickshire, in southeast Scotland. The family moved to Earlston after Kerr lost all his work in a studio fire when vandals broke in and set the building on fire. This fire and the loss of his father-in-law prompted the move to the [Scottish Borders]]. The artist battled with depression and alcoholism for along time after being forced to give up his career as an artist and become a technician at the local high school to pay the debt the fire had inflicted. Kerr later died in 2010 at the Borders General Hospital of Pancreatic Cancer.

Awards

 * 1981 – Northern Arts Award
 * 1982 – Northern Arts Award
 * 1986 – Northern Arts Bursary
 * 1987 – Scottish Arts Council Award

Exhibitions and installations

 * Sheepfolds
 * Dundee, Scotland, UK


 * Forced Perspective
 * The Third Eye Centre, Glasgow, Scotland, UK

Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
 * Reflections
 * National Museum of Scotland

|Wall


 * Glenkiln Sculpture Park, Scotland, UK