Kevin Kane
he/him
Kevin Kane's artwork is concerned with human relationships and challenging societal norms around definitions of love. He paints in both oils and acrylics and is also interested in sculpture, print, moving image and installations, predominantly interested in portraying the human figure. He has recently completed a BA Contemporary Portraiture at Art Academy, and has shown at National Portrait Gallery, Royal Academy of Arts, Royal Society of Portrait Painters, Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, the Scottish Portrait Awards and Woolwich Contemporary Print Exhibition. He is a co-founder and regular exhibitor Cardion Arts, an annual group show of queer art.
what does still here mean to you?
"Still Here" speaks to the persistence of people, identities and histories that have repeatedly been censored, erased or declared unwelcome. My work draws on religious imagery and art history to question who is permitted to be visible and who is asked to disappear. By revisiting works shaped by centuries of institutional power, I reclaim spaces where queer lives have long existed but have often been concealed through shame, censorship or omission. To me, "Still Here" is not simply about survival. It is about insisting on visibility. Despite changing laws, social attitudes and cultural gatekeepers, attempts to regulate bodies, desire and identity continue in new forms. My practice responds by imagining spaces of belonging, joy and scrutiny, suggesting that what has been hidden has never truly disappeared. We have always been here.
