John Kearney (August 31, 1924 – August 10, 2014) was an American artist, best known for his sculptures made of car bumpers. During his career, Kearney was based out of Chicago and Provincetown, Massachusetts. Many of his sculptures are displayed outside of public buildings.
Life
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 lived and worked in Italy numerous times, most notably in Rome in 1963 and 1964 while on a Fulbright Award, and 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.
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)
- 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
- Springfield Art Association • Springfield, IL • Bicentennial Bison (Outside Visual Arts Center)
- 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)
- RAM's Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, 2519 Northwestern Ave, Racine, Wi, 53403 two giraffes, a pelican (1960), two goats (Goat 1978 and Nanny Goat 1999), and a standing female nude (Venus of Detroit 1975), are installed outdoors on the grounds at Wustum through August 12, 2021.
- Signal Centers (Chattanooga TN) Front of Facility (Horse) - www.signalcenters.org
References
- "John Kearney Obituary". cremation-society.com/. Cremation Society of Illinois. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
- Descriptive plaque on Moose (W-02-03)
- "McCormick's 175th Anniversary - Chapter 4: Campus Development". 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 the Ram" at McCormick seminary
- Another version of "Herald 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.