John Kearney (artist)

John Kearney (August 31, 1924 – August 10, 2014^[1]) 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.^[2]

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)^[3]
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)
[1] 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.

External links

[1] "John Kearney Obituary". cremation-society.com/. Cremation Society of Illinois. Retrieved November 7, 2014.

[2] Descriptive plaque on Moose (W-02-03)

[3] "McCormick's 175th Anniversary - Chapter 4: Campus Development". Archived from the original on August 18, 2005. Retrieved July 1, 2006.

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