Sean Durkin
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Sean Durkin (born 14 July 1963 in Linthorpe, Middlesbrough) is a contemporary British artist best known for his works inspired by L.S. Lowry.
In 1972, Sean Durkin's father John Durkin stole L.S. Lowry's The Old Town Hall and St Hilda's Church from Middlesbrough Art Gallery in a protest for art galleries to open on Sundays, 'to allow the working man to get some culture', in turn demanded demanding that the Mayor raffle his underpants for charity in exchange for the artwork's return.[1]
Durkin's work draws inspiration from his father's exploits to produce an extensive range of work inspired by Lowry's style whilst featuring a policeman and robber in a humour reference to the incident.[2]
A former plumber, Durkin turned attention to working as a full-time artist in 2014. Durkin's work centre around nostalgic depictions of working-class life and communities in several British towns, cities and industrial centres, with focus on the everyday reflecting trends from the Northern art movement associated with Lowry.
Durkin's work has been exhibited at galleries across the United Kingdom including at Basecamp Middlesbrough, York Fine Arts, Forest Gallery, the Art House Gallery and Middlesbrough FC.[3]
In 2017, a Lowryesque painting by Durkin featuring Manchester's Lord Mayor Carl Austin-Behan wearing a robe and pink underpants was auctioned off to raise funds for Cancer Research UK.[4] Similar fundraising artworks of the Lord Mayors of Bradford, Hull, Leeds, Newcastle and York.[5]
In 2020, Durkin's artwork featured in The Most Famous Man on Marsh Road, a book based on the memoirs of his grandfather Patrick which was uncovered five years earlier by Sean Durkin whilst sorting through the effects of his late father John Durkin.[6] The book received praise from a number of quarters including by Andy McDonald, Member of Parliament for Middlesbrough and Thornaby.[7]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Sean Durkin inspired by father's theft of Lowry work". BBC News. June 24, 2014.
- ↑ "Artist inspired by his father's own brush with the law". The Northern Echo. March 20, 2015.
- ↑ Vickers, Anthony (June 5, 2020). "New Boro exhibition celebrates memory of Ayresome Park". Teesside Live.
- ↑ Fitzgerald, Todd (March 22, 2017). "'Lowryesque' painting featuring Lord Mayor to go under the hammer". Manchester Evening News.
- ↑ "It's the Lord Mayor - in his underwear!". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. March 25, 2017.
- ↑ "Heritage Unlocked". Heritage Unlocked. November 5, 2020.
- ↑ "Gary Philipson - A Lowry painting, a Middlesbrough man and the mayor's underpants - BBC Sounds". www.bbc.co.uk.
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