Biography
Joanna Kirk (b. Cheshire, UK 1963) went to Goldsmiths' College, London in 1984 and in 1988, she won the Whitechapel Gallery Artists Award. Her work was exhibited in the 1990 touring exhibition, British Art Show. Kirk's pastel paintings are psychological landscapes in which the artist explores themes such as motherhood, isolation, humanity and intimacy. One of the few contemporary artists working in pastel, Kirk gradually builds up the surface of each piece, adding layer upon layer to produce compositionally rich and complex landscapes which become almost abstract in their surface detail. Selected solo exhibitions include; Blain|Southern, London, UK (2015); Miles to Go Before I Sleep, Mostyn, Llandudno, UK (2010); Ciocca Arte Contemporanea, Milan, IT (2000); Modern Art Inc, London, UK (1999); Künstlerhaus, Palais Thurn und Taxis, Bregenz, AT (1996); Todd Gallery, London, UK (1994 and 1993); Nicola Jacobs Gallery, London, UK (1989); Carino Campo Gallery, Antwerp, BE (1989); Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, UK (1988); Nicola Jacobs Gallery, London, UK (1987) and Third Eye Centre, Glasgow, UK (1987).
Selected group exhibitions include; I Prefer Life, Weserburg Museum fur Moderne Kunst, Bremen, DE (2016); Metamorphosis, All Visual Arts, One Marylebone Place, London, UK (2012); Objects of Delight, QUAD, Derby, UK (2011); Now & Then, Harris Lindsay, London, UK (2011); Peeping Tom Part 2, Kunsthal KAdE (Amersfoort), NL (2011); Peeping Tom, Vegas Gallery, London, UK (2010); Intimate Art: Love, Family and Friendship, Lowry Centre, Manchester, UK (2002); Intimate Art, Oriel Mostyn Gallery, Llandudno, UK; Simulacra: Keeping It Real, Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Centre, UK (1999); Saatchi In Sheffield, Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield, UK (1999); Flowers In Art In The 20th Century, Harewood House, Yorkshire, UK (1999); Remaking Reality, Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, UK (1997); Joanna Kirk, Carina Weidle, Todd Gallery, London, UK (1995); Christmas Show, British Council, Prague, CZ (1993); Western Exposure, Riverside Studios, London, UK (1993); The British Art Show, Leeds City Art Gallery, Leeds, UK (1990); The British Art Show, Hayward Gallery, London, UK (1990); Subject: Object, Nicola Jacobs Gallery, London, UK (1989); Twentieth Century Drawing and Sculpture, Jacksonville, Florida, US (1989); Vanitas, Norwich School of Art Gallery, Norwich, UK (1988); Group Show, Richard Pomeroy Gallery, London, UK (1987);Interference, Riverside Studios, London, UK (1986); Love: Sacred and Profane, Plymouth Arts Centre, UK (1986); Riverside Studios, London, UK (1984). Kirk has works in numerous public collections including; Murderme, UK; Saatchi Collection, UK and The Arts Council, UK.
