Ken Kirkby: Feature Artist
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Webster Galleries & Avenida Framing 2-625 77 Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta T2H 2B9
Ken Kirkby, "Guardians of the Bay," 2020
oil on canvas, 36" x 18"
Kenneth Michael Kirkby was born September 1, 1940 in London, England and raised in Portugal. Kirkby first exhibited at age sixteen in Lisbon, to critical acclaim. The show sold out immediately after the opening ceremonies.
In 1958, Portugal was in revolution and the family's safety was threatened. Kirkby made the move to Vancouver, Canada on September 2, 1958. After working in northern British Columbia, he worked his way north. For the next five years, he travelled from Alaska to Baffin. In the eastern region he found what was to become the inspiration for the remainder of his career. Walking alone one day on the tundra, Kirkby came across a huge stone cairn built in the likeness of a human. The Inuit were much amused by his excitement at the discovery; for them, these cairns which they call 'inukshuks,’ were a way of life. For ten thousand years, the inukshuks were erected on the land as travel beacons and aids to hunting and fishing and landmarks.
Kirkby's first Canadian success came with his paintings of western Canadian wildlife and landscapes.