JOHN KIRBY

John Kirby, born in Liverpool in 1949, spent his twenties working in mainly social work jobs, inluding a short stint at the Boy's Town of Calcutta.

In 1982 he studied art at St Martins School of Art, followed by an MA at the Royal College of Art completing his studies in 1988.

He was immmediately taken up by Angela Flowers for her galleries in London and later in New York, where John Kirby's work is well known and established.

He is a painter and printmaker whose stark work invites us to reflect on growing up and adulthood. These are not bright images, but they are honest and question the defences, or barriers that we create around us as we try to fit into the societal norms we see around us.

Although not a prolific artist, John Kirby has exhibited widely in the UK, mainland Europe and the USA.

His work is in many private, public and corporate collections including CAS, Tate (London), V&A and Rene Magritte Foundation, Brussels.