ARTIST INSIGHTS | Artist John Keane On Downing His Paint Tools & Leaving War Zones Behind

In this extended interview - and ahead of his retirement, retrospective and auction "POWER, POLITICS, PLANET | A Brief History of John Keane" - Dreweatts Will Porter asks long-standing British artist John Keane about the key influences and moments in an extraordinary career that has taken him to some of the world's most war-torn regions and resulted in a canon of artwork that has consistently held a mirror up to society's decisions and world events and challenged us all to stop for a moment and question our own motives and morality.

Born in 1854, John Keane has never been one to shy away from expressing his views on politics, society, and power through his art. However, in this video, he tells us why he feels it's time to hang up his smock and retire after decades of enlightening us and inducing debate.

However, before he disappears from the art world's stage, he is holding a celebratory auction of his work through the years, from his visual encapsulations of war-torn countries (most notably as the official war artist for the Imperial War Museum for the Gulf War in 1990) to his societal works on topical issues.

Commenting on the sale, Will Porter, Co-Head of Modern and Contemporary Art at Dreweatts, said:
“We are very excited to be working with John Keane to bring this wonderful selection of works spanning his career to the market. John Keane made his name when he was commissioned to be an official war artist for the Iraq War in 1990 and has built a reputation as a political artist questioning the status quo. Now, more than ever the questions that John has posed over the last 40 years cannot be ignored, as empirical evidence is disregarded for baseless populist narratives. As art should, his paintings challenge us to respond. They hold up a mirror to our own sense of morality and demand a reaction.”

To find out more, please visit:

https://www.dreweatts.com/news-videos/artists-insights-power-politics-planet-a-brief-history-of-john-keane-14523/

Browse the auction: https://auctions.dreweatts.com/auctions/8513/drewea1-10361

IMAGERY, ARCHIVE & MUSIC

All Imagery Other Than Outlined Below | Courtesy of John Keane Archive
PHOTO Camberwell Art College | Jwslubbock | CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
PHOTO Andy Warhol with Archie, his pet Dachshund, 1973 | Jack Mitchell | CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
PHOTO Steve Biko | Unknown photographer | CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
PHOTO HMS Cardiff anchored outside Port Stanley, 1982| Griffiths911 | CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
PHOTO The ARA Belgrano sinking, 1982 Falklands War | Martín Sgut (1951 - 2010) | Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
PHOTO Pussy Riot at Lobnoye Mesto On Red Square in Moscow | Denis Bochkarev | CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
PHOTO Pussy Riot | Denis Bochkarev | CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
PHOTO President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Donetsk region in June 2021 | President.gov.ua | CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
MUSIC Prodigal | Created by EVOE | Artlist

Видео ARTIST INSIGHTS | Artist John Keane On Downing His Paint Tools & Leaving War Zones Behind канала Dreweatts 1759