John Patrick Kirby (2 February 1949 – 21 March 2025) was a British artist known for his paintings exploring issues of gender, religion, sexuality and race. His work was compared to that of René Magritte, Balthus and Edward Hopper. Kirby exhibited internationally and his work is held in several collections including the Tate Gallery, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and the Royal College of Art.
Contents
Life and career
Early life
John Patrick Kirby was born in Liverpool on 2 February 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 traveled to Calcutta to help in a children's home headed by Mother Teresa. 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 created a large body of work that included both painting and sculpture and 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 several of his sculptures. His work was described as "bleak and lonely" and dominated by "solitary figures in strange worlds."
Death
Kirby died on 21 March 2025, at the age of 76.
Solo exhibitions
2014 Play Time, Flowers Cork Street, London
2013 John Kirby, Flowers New York
2012 The Living and the Dead, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
2011 Ghosts, Flowers Cork Street, London
2010 What Remains, Flowers East, London
2009 Home, Flowers Cork Street, London
2007 Being Alive, Flowers Cork Street, London
2006 Mixed Blood, Flowers, New York
2006 Il Polittico, Rome
2005 Absent Friends, Flowers Cork Street, London
2005 New prints and monotypes, Flowers Graphics, London
2003 Someone Else Flowers, New York
2002 Flowers Cork Street, 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
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
René Magritte Foundation, Brussels
In popular culture
Kirby's "Self Portrait 1987" is seen on-screen, and referenced by the character Armand Goldman (Robin Williams) in the 1996 film The Birdcage. In an early scene, Armand defends the fine art to his son, Val (Dan Futterman), who requests his father tone down the décor exclaiming "The Kirby? That's art!"