CONTEMPORARY ART STOCKROOM Janne Kearney

Upcoming Exhibitions

Horizons

ARTIST COMMISSION ENQUIRY

JOIN THE PREVIEW LIST

Not one to shy away from confronting subject matter, Janne Kearney’s hyper-real, brilliantly colourful paintings explore issues surrounding gender inequality, the experiences of people abandoned by society, as well as portraying the trauma inflicted by a disjointed youth justice system. By dissecting societal stereotypes her work strives to highlight the social challenges faced by these marginalised individuals and asks her audience to disregard preconceived ideas about people, cultures and gender.

Reflecting the textures and colours of contemporary street culture, Kearney’s subjects exist within the confines of abandoned urban spaces or are set free within the weightless expanse of an abstract field. Utilising the dramatic possibilities of light and dark her images evoke notions of both love and loneliness, damage and possibility, and the hope that exists in between these states. Incorporating the symbolic motif of the rainbow into many of her works, as well utilising an innovative technique of 3D painting, her images radiate with a progressive optimism that champions a world of inclusivity, tolerance and acceptance.

“I have been concentrating on painting with high contrast light for a few years now. I love the symbolism of light and shade as much as I do the effect resulting from its use; it sends a powerful message that, even in the darkest of moments, if we search for it, we can find the light.”
Artists Statement, Janne Kearney

Read: Janne Kearney featured in Beautiful Bizzare

ARTIST PROFILE:
Janne Kearney has an extensive exhibition history and has been acknowledged through her selection within numerous awards. She won the inaugural National Capital Art Prize in 2021 and the Lethbridge 20000 Art Award in 2020. She also won the Corangamarah Small Scale Art Prize twice, in 2017 and 2016.

Kearney has been a finalist in several prestigious awards, including the Portia Geach Memorial Award (2023, 2021, 2020, 2018), National Capital Art Prize (2022, 2021), Lethbridge 20000 Art Award (2022), Kennedy Prize (2021), Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award (2020), Lester Prize (2020), Clayton UTZ Art Award (2019, 2018, 2017, 2016), Stanthorpe Art Prize (2018), Black Swan Portrait Prize (2018), Doug Moran Portrait Prize (2017, 2015), and Lethbridge Art Prize (2017, 2016, 2015, 2000).

In 2018, she was selected as one of seven winners of the American Fashion Week San Diego Annual ARC Salon Awards. Her artwork '86 (Rhyming Slang for Worth Nix)' was featured on the cover of the BP Portrait Award exhibition catalogue at London's National Portrait Gallery in 2017, after which it entered the collection of UK art collector Mervyn Metcalf.

She has exhibited at a number of art institutions such as the London Portrait Gallery, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Sunderland Museum in England, Royal Albert Museum and Art Gallery in Exeter, Arte dall’ Turin in Italy, Salmagundi Club in New York, Lux Art Institute in San Diego, Sotheby’s Los Angeles, and the Museu Europeu d'Art Modern in Barcelona.

VIEW LIMITED EDITION PRINTS

DOWNLOAD BIO / CV (PDF)