John Kirby Looking Out, 1997

Born in Liverpool in 1949, John Kirby (1949-2025) studied at Central Saint Martins and the Royal College of Art in London, following his service in a Calcutta children's home headed by Mother Theresa and time as a social worker. With his Catholic background a strong influence in his practice, since the 1980s Kirby has tackled the complexities of gender, sexuality, and race through arresting and disquieting portraiture. While many of his works are sublimated self-portraits, others nod to religious and cultural iconography or act as coded memories of his own family in a surrealist style that has drawn comparisons to Magritte, Hopper, and Balthus. 

Etching with chine-collé is a printmaking technique where a thin decorative paper is bonded to a thicker backing paper during the printing process, allowing the etched image to be printed and adhered in one step. 

John Kirby is represented in public collections, including the Tate, London, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.