John Kearney (August 31, 1924 – August 10, 2014) was an American artist, best known for his sculptures made of car bumpers. During his career, Kearney was based out of Chicago and Provincetown, Massachusetts. Many of his sculptures are displayed outside of public buildings.
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Life
Kearney received his artistic education at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and the Universita per Stranieri in Perugia, Italy. In 1950, he co-founded the Contemporary Art Workshop in Chicago. Subsequently, he lived and worked in Italy numerous times, most notably in Rome in 1963 and 1964 while on a Fulbright Award, and in 1985 and 1992 while serving as a visiting artist at the American Academy in Rome.
Kearney learned his welding skills as a World War II U.S. Navy sailor while performing underwater repair of naval vessels.
Awards
Fulbright Award to Rome in 1963–64
Italian Government Grant in 1963–64
Visiting Artists at America Academy in Rome, 1985 and 1992
Collections that own Kearney's work
Aon (Standard Oil Building) in Chicago
Detroit Children's Museum
Illinois State Capitol Visitors Center, Springfield, Illinois
Springfield Art Association, Springfield, Illinois
Mitchell Museum, Mt. Vernon, Illinois
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
Ulrich Museum, Wichita, Kansas
Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, Illinois
Canton Museum of Art, Canton, Ohio
Solo exhibitions
New York City at A.C.A. Gallery, 1964 to 1979
Berta Walker Gallery, Provincetown, Massachusetts, 1992 to 1997
Outdoor sculpture
In Chicago area
Academy of Science (T. rex)
Aon (formerly the Amoco Building and the Standard Oil Building) (three deer)
Chicago Park District (two life size Horses)
Clark and Deming intersection (two goats)
Roscoe and Elaine Place intersection (two giraffes)(removed)
Cornelia and Elaine Place intersection ("Nanny Goat") (removed)
Field Museum, South Entrance (two bronzes)
Field Museum, penguin and deer inside an exhibit.
Francis Parker School
Goudy School (double life-size cougar – the School Mascot)
Lincoln Park Zoo (chromium-plated bull elephant) – the zoo did not take proper care of these sculptures, and they were removed due to damage.
McCormick Seminary, Hyde Park, on University Avenue north of 55th Street (a large ram, named "Herald", pun referring to the Hyde Park Herald newspaper)
Michigan Avenue Magnificent Mile (moose)
Museum of Science and Industry (life-size gorilla)
Oakton Community College
Oz Park (the Tin Man (1995), Cowardly Lion (2001), Scarecrow (2005), and Dorothy and Toto (2007) from The Wizard of Oz)