Perception

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 systems. By dissecting societal stereotypes her works strives to highlight the social challenges faced by these marginalised individuals and asks her audience to disregard preconceived ideas about people, cultures and gender.  

LISTEN: SmartArts with Richard Watts Interview with Janne Kearney start 1:08

Kearney has exhibited widely and has an impressive award history. In 2018 she was selected as a finalist in the Portia Geach Memorial Award, the Stanthorpe Art Prize, the Black Swan Portrait Prize, the Clayton Utz Prize and one of seven winners of the American Fashion Week San Diago Annual ARC Salon Awards. She has twice been awarded the Corangamarah Small Scale Art Prize (2017 & 2016) and in 2017 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. That work subsequently entered the collection of renowned UK art collector Mervyn Metcalf.  Kearney has also been a finalist in the Clayton UTZ Award (2018, 2017, 2016), the Doug Moran Portrait Prize (2017, 2015) and the Lethbridge Art Prize (2017, 2016, 2015, 2000). She has exhibited works in the London Portrait Gallery, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, The Sunderland Museum England, Royal Albert Museum and Art Gallery Exeter, Arte dall’ Turin Italy, Salmagundi Club New York, Lux Art Institute San Diego, Sotheby’s Los Angeles, and the Museu Europeu d'Art Modern in Barcelona. 

This will be Kearney's first major solo exhibition with FLG.