Born in 1924 in Omaha, Nebraska, artist John Kearney was particularly renowned for his sculptures made from car bumpers. Based in Chicago and Provincetown, Massachusetts, many of Kearney’s works are still displayed outside public buildings. Following service as a sailor in the United States Navy during World War II, he studied at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and later at the Università per Stranieri in Perugia, Italy. He co-founded the Contemporary Art Workshop in Chicago in 1950, which supported emerging artists until its closure in 2009. Throughout his career, Kearney also served as a mentor and teacher, influencing generations of artists. Kearney’s most famous works consist of large metal sculptures in Chicago, such as those in Oz Park and at the Museum of Science and Industry. Beginning in 1980, he also began creating small sculptures used as awards by the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence. In Kearney’s prime, his celebrity collectors included Studs Terkel and Johnny Carson. Today, examples of Kearney’s work are held in various public and private collections worldwide, and his sculptures continue to experience considerable demand on the secondary auction market. Kearney passed away in 2014 at the age of eighty-nine.
