John Kiki
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2008
2008
2008
2007
2007
2006
2006
2006
2006
2005
2005
2004
2003
2001
2000
1999
1999
1998
1998
1997
1997
1996
1996
1995
1995
1995
1994
1993
1991
1990
Drella Galleries, Surrey
Theatre Royal, Norwich
Ethna Dillon, Norwich
Gallery Warhenberger, Zurich
Last Gallery, Zurich
(collaborative works with David Koppel, photographer)
Chappel Galleries, Colchester
O.K. Harris Gallery, New York City
Warehouse Galleries, Lowestoft
Ethna Dillon, Norwich
Gallery Warhenberger, Zurich
Warehouse Galleries, Lowestoft
St Giles Gallery, Norwich
Chappel Galleries, Colchester
Frames Gallery, Norwich
O.K. Harris Gallery, New York City
Gallery Warhenberger, Zurich
King of Hearts Gallery, Norwich
Art Space Gallery, London
Gallery Warhenberger, Zurich
Concourse Gallery, Barbican Centre, London
Gallery Warhenberger, Zurich
Hannah Feldman Gallery, Bern (Hauts de Gstaad)
Galerie Waltraud Matt, Liechtenstein
Art Space Gallery, London (Monoprints and Etchings)
Gallery Warhenberger, Zurich
Museum of Zagreb
Gallery Warhenberger, Zurich
Hannah Feldman Gallery, Bern (Hauts de Gstaad)
Art Space Gallery, London
Norwich Gallery, Norwich
2001
1999
1999
1999
1998
1998
'Garden of Earthly Delights', Art Space Gallery, London
Paintings for the Circus, Great Yarmouth
Innsbruck Art Fair, Germany
King's College Hospital, London
King of Hearts Gallery, Norwich
Innsbruck Art Fair, Germany
WORKS IN PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Chantry Bequest; National Gallery of Wales; The Saatchi
Collection; Gallup Finland Siemens PLC; Art Esprit, Ltd.; University
Gallery, Liverpool; Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery, Norwich
PUBLICATIONS
1993 Commissioned by Art Esprit for paintings based on
Carmina Burana
1991 Imprimis Editions and Art Esprit, paintings and
conversations with Keith Patrick
1989 Subject of a film in the 'Artist's Eye' series made by Franco
Rosso for BBC TV
At The Races, 2008
20. Man on a Camel, June 2008
Acrylic and fabric on canvas, 194 x 208cm
1. The Three Graces (Triptych), June 2007
Acrylic on canvas, 173 x 275cm
21. Will you marry me?, June 2008
Acrylic on canvas, 203 x 194cm
2. Cleopatra, July 2007
Acrylic on canvas, 200 x 173cm
22. Trouper of the Plains, July 2008
Acrylic on canvas, 198 x 183cm
3. The Man from Aranmore (after Yeats), August 2007
Acrylic on canvas, 177 x 188cm
23. Infanta II, July 2008
Acrylic and newsprint on canvas, 183 x 150cm
4. David Killing the Bear, September 2007
Acrylic on canvas, 180 x 184cm
24. The Critics, July 2008
Acrylic on canvas, 210 x 183cm
5. Leda and the Swan, September 2007
Acrylic on canvas, 170 x 170cm
25. Daphne, August 2008
Acrylic on canvas, 213 x 203cm
6. The Kubrick Picture, September 2007
Acrylic on canvas, 202 x 215cm
26. Nessus and Deneira, September 2008
Acrylic on canvas, 200 x 192cm
7. N.O.R.W.I.C.H., September 2007
Acrylic on canvas, 243 x 182cm
27. My Angel, September 2008
Acrylic and newsprint on canvas, 170 x 179cm
8. Bird Girl, September 2007
Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 53cm
28. Still at Art School, September 2008
Acrylic and newsprint on canvas, 180 x 187cm
9. Men of Destiny (after Yeats), November 2007
Acrylic on canvas, 183 x 194cm
29. Ride Him Cowboy, September 2008
Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100cm
10. Streets of Ireland (after Yeats), November 2007
Acrylic on canvas, 186 x 201cm
30. The Dressing Room, September 2008
Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100cm
11. Ballerina, November 2007
Acrylic on canvas, 203 x 186cm
31. Don Quixote, September 2008
Etching (edition of 50), 30 x 25cm
12. Two Nudes, November 2007
Acrylic on canvas, 185 x 199cm
32. Bronco Bill, September 2008
Etching (edition of 50), 30 x 25cm
13. Wind on the Heath, March 2008
Acrylic on canvas, 203 x 199cm
33. The Performers, September 2008
Etching (edition of 100), 30 x 25cm
14. At the Races, March 2008
Acrylic on canvas, 215 x 181cm
34. Head 1 (fragment), September 2008
Acrylic on canvas, 58 x 48cm
15. Infanta with Serving Maids, March 2008
Acrylic on canvas, 201 x 183cm
35. Head 2 (fragment), September 2008
Acrylic on canvas, 58 x 48cm
16. The Lovers, March 2008
Acrylic on canvas, 184 x 195cm
36. Don Quixote 1, September 2008
Acrylic on canvas, 40 x 40cm
17. King of the Mountain, April 2008
Acrylic on canvas, 186 x 200cm
37. The Good Knight, September 2008
Acrylic on canvas, 46 x 43cm
18. Don Quixote, April 2008
Acrylic on canvas, 189 x 216cm
38. Bronco Bill, September 2008
Acrylic on canvas, 46 x 43cm
19. Riders with Hounds, May 2008
Acrylic on canvas, 186 x 193cm
39. Don Quixote 2, September 2008
Acrylic on canvas, 40 x 40cm
John Kiki
18 October - 16 November 2008
Wind on the Heath, 2007
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2006
2005
2004
2004
2003
2002
2001
2001
List of works: a chronology
Gasiunasen Gallery, Palm Beach, Florida
Norwich Castle Museum, Norwich
St Giles Gallery, Norwich
O.K. Harris Gallery, New York City
O.K. Harris Gallery, New York City
O.K. Harris Gallery, New York City
O.K. Harris Gallery, New York City
'The Naked Truth', Fermoy Gallery, King's Lynn Arts Centre
All images © Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery
Gallery Guide
Interview
Q1 When did you first discover that art would be an
important part of your adult life?
Probably when I first attended Saturday morning art classes at
Camberwell Art College.
Q2 How has creating art shaped you professionally and
personally?
Art has saved me from a career in restaurants which has always
been the family business.
Three Graces, 2005-2007
Introduction
John Kiki
The scale and confidence of John Kiki's work constitutes an
impressive response to the challenge of working as a painter in
the contemporary world. The artist has created the current
exhibition of entirely new paintings in direct answer to the
exhibition spaces of Norwich Castle. Kiki's long-held interest in
sources as diverse as classical myth and magazine photographs is
here developed on a series of large scale canvases that display a
new sense of colour through the use of pastel shades, as well as
his trademark streaks and splashes of paint.
Kiki attacks life and his art with a passion that conveys absolute
immediacy - both in the application of paint and his re-invention
of classical themes and subjects drawn from contemporary life.
His process as a painter shows changes of heart and mind which
can be traced through the layers of paint or collage on the
canvas. Super-imposed pieces of canvas or printed cloth act as
witness to the archaeology of his enthusiastic embrace of the
material world as well as of ideas, ancient and modern.
Kiki's subject matter ranges across time. The nude figure is a
joyous tradition in Kiki's hands, while friendships vie with historic
and mythic stories. The artist's eye is captured by compelling
photographs or images in magazines and newsprint, which he
translates with transcendent colour and dash. Influences such as
Velasquez, Jack Yeats or Alfred Munnings relate to single images
which command his imagination, the results burning into our
own retina. This surely is the power that lies at the heart of a
painter in touch with the great challenges of painting today.
Andrew Moore
Keeper of Art
Q3 How has society influenced your painting? Are there
any social implications in your art?
Social implications? Not really, though of course no one is sure
how the subconscious comes into play.
Q4 What are your artistic influences? Has anyone inspired you?
This is a question I want to answer in depth. Since 2002 I have
been re-evaluating my past works and thought processes on
painting. Between 2002 and 2006, rather than starting new
work I changed many of my existing large works which I thought
could be improved by working over; I consider my large paintings
to be the most important because that is the scale I feel most
free experimenting with.
I developed a technique whereby I cut out large chunks of heavily
developed areas so as to continue without the clogging that
would have otherwise ensued. During this period I also produced
Infanta With Serving Maids, 2007
a series of small paintings using the same subject of Horse and
Rider. I wanted to see if I was able to exhaust the same subject
or whether it was possible to find new ways of representing the
same theme. Subject matter was not the primary concern for me,
Horse and Rider could have easily been Man with a Hat for
instance. As I have never thought it imperative to work with a
particular subject unless commissioned to do so by a client, the
desire and urge to paint was all I deemed necessary as a starting
point, which was often a circle, which turned into a head, which
turned into a figure and so on. Subject matter was arbitrary and
the act of painting was always primary.
I then began to query whether there was anything inhibiting me
making advances in picture making. I found myself questioning
some of my beliefs; in particular whether subject matter is
important in my pursuit of advancement? I decided to vary the
subject in every painting and in the search for new subjects I
explored the vast mountain of existing images from photographs,
books, magazines, mythology and art history. The subjects I
would use need not have artistic merit; in fact the idea is to find
an image which suggests challenging subject matter.
Titles act as a catalyst for my search for an image. For example,
recently, whilst looking through a friend's thesis on Jack B Yeats I
was struck by the drama and sense of mystery that the title of
one of the images 'The Man from Aranmore' suggested. Who
was this man from Aranmore? I almost immediately recreated a
charcoal version of the Yeats' work on a large canvas with the
aim to make the image my own. It took another two weeks with
the work never from my mind when I was finally able to attempt
the painting which I finished in one sitting.
Since then the importance of subject matter has risen in my mind
and I have embarked on a new phase of thought whereby I
produce a series of paintings without an obvious recurring theme.
Being forced to find a new starting point every time presents
more of a challenge; the difficulty of avoiding easy starting points
helps to stretch the mind allowing me to move forward and take
a step in a new direction. Likewise, the new addition of spatial
composition has encouraged me to stretch the boundaries a little
further than previous attempted efforts.
Finally I have begun to contemplate how some of the great
contemporary painters begin a painting with the aim to finish the
work in one sitting even though they might at the end of the day
tear down the whole image and begin again. For the last few
years I have had no such aim, in fact I thought curtailing my
erratic and capricious nature by slowing down the painting
process would add and offer more possibilities. I decided in fact
to encourage my impatience and finish as fast as possible having
learnt enough in my long artistic life to avoid skimpiness. This
adds a new freshness I had hitherto thought lacking in my work.
So to summarize my answer to the question of direct artistic
influence: the great figurative painters of the past and present
and a few abstract ones, including the abstract expressionists, are
important to me. Indeed, my current show at Norwich Castle has
been the catalyst for me to make an advance in my work that I
had hoped I was capable of.
Q5 Can you say a little about your background? Are your past
experiences reflected in the work you do today? If so, how?
My background can't be described in a few words, but I think I
can't hide the fact that my work reflects and uses much that is
found in the History of Art.
Q6 How long have you been a working artist?
After leaving college in '67, I considered myself a working artist
but often found I had to find other ways of earning a living.
Q7 If you could pinpoint the characteristics of people who
collect your art, what would they be?
This is a hard question to answer as the majority of my paintings
are sold to dealers here and abroad. They are very reluctant to
forward any information as to who the buyers are.
Q8 Discuss one of your paintings. What were you thinking
when you created it?
I would like to give the thinking behind two works. Firstly,
Horseman with Hounds was one that after the initial drawing on
canvas, I was stuck with how to continue. It took a few weeks
before I attempted to search for an 'idea' in the work. I try to
remember why I used this subject and composition. I felt very
edgy and impatient. I decided to simplify the work and finish in
one sitting. I used the minimum of colour, decided to forgo any
attempt at correct drawing, and allowed myself to be guided by
intuition and work as quickly as possible. I don't remember
making any conscious decisions while I was painting and found
to my dismay that the drawing was even more inaccurate and
simplified than usual. It took me a few days to find, to my
delight, that I liked the painting.
The second painting, by contrast, is Will you marry me? This work
King of the Mountain, 2008
was originally meant to be titled Salome, taken from a drawing
by Victor Willing with the same title. Victor Willing was a great
talent whose work I have real admiration for; this painting was
meant as a tribute to him. However I lost my way by the second
day and the image became confused. On the third day I carried
on hardly knowing what I was doing, but always remembering
the freedom Willing used in his later work. I finished, thinking
the work was a complete disaster. By the fourth day, I was
surprised by the result and decided it was worth keeping.
However, the title was no longer appropriate and not wanting to
call it Untitled I just called it Will you marry me? Perhaps the two
are similar in their working method after all.
Q9 On average, how many hours a week do you spend
working in your studio? Do you have any 'studio rituals'?
I don't really have any set routine or count the hours, there is
only a certain amount of energy available to me in a day. I might
have two or three sessions a day at my most active; the most a
session lasts is between two and three hours. I do try to spend
time in the studio even if I don't feel like painting. I prepare for
the next bout of painting by making stretchers and mixing paint,
which is a sort of ritual for me preparing in my mind what to do
next. My coffee ritual also helps to stimulate me to begin
painting.
Q10 Where can we see more of your art?
I have work in various museum collections but the works are not
on permanent display. I am however represented by various
websites such as the St Giles Gallery, Chappel Gallery,
Targetfollow Arts, and maybe others.
Q11 What trends do you see in the contemporary 'art
world'? Are they important to you?
Trends come and go largely unnoticed by me. But I did take great
interest in the so called 'Bad painters' of the 80s.
Q12 Any tips for emerging artists?
Don't get carried away and enter the 'comfort zone'. Just
remember not to ease off at the first sign of success.
Q13 What was the toughest point in your career as an
artist? Have you ever hit rock-bottom?
I've been near rock bottom for years. It has been all ups and
downs.
Q14 In one sentence... why do you create art?
I get a kick out of painting.
Q15 What do you think about the art scene in Norfolk?
Improving rapidly. It's now a nice place to work, especially in
Great Yarmouth.
Q16 Does religion, faith, or the lack thereof play a part in
your painting?
Isn't 'creating art' a religion? Our Greek Archbishop thinks so.