John Keane

John Granville Colpoys Keane (born 12 September 1954) is a British artist, whose paintings have contemporary political and social themes.

Life and work

John Keane was born in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, England. He was educated at Wellington College (1968–72) and Camberwell School of Art (1972–76).

He is a political painter, whose subjects often concern contentious political, social and military issues.

In 1990, the Imperial War Museum commissioned him as an official war artist in the Gulf War.

2001–02, he exhibited paintings which were derived from an expedition with Greenpeace during their campaign in the Amazon against illegal logging.

In 2004, he toured his show, The Inconvenience of History, internationally. This was based on trips in liaison with Christian Aid to the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In November 2019, along with other public figures, Keane signed a letter supporting Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn describing him as "a beacon of hope in the struggle against emergent far-right nationalism, xenophobia and racism in much of the democratic world" and endorsed him in the 2019 UK general election.

He is a visiting research fellow at Camberwell College of Arts.

Residencies and commissions These include: 2002 Project in Israel with Christian Aid 2005 Portrait for the National Portrait Gallery of Sir Bill Morris 2006 Portrait for the BBC of Greg Dyke 2006 Project in Angola with Christian Aid