Ken Currie (1960 – )

Born in Glasgow, Ken Currie is a painter and graduate of Glasgow School of Art. During his time at Glasgow School of Art and thereafter, Currie was labelled as one of the ‘New Glasgow Boys’ group, alongside Peter Howson, Adrian Wiszniewski and Steven Campbell.

The artist’s works often takes significant inspiration from industrialism as well as having a profound interest in the body and the ‘terror’ of mortality. Throughout the 1990s Currie was deeply affected by humanitarian events in Eastern Europe, with his work evolving to confront ideas of morality and corruption. This interest is also often explored in the artist’s work through depictions of how the human body is affected by ageing, illness and injury.

Currie’s work often also relates to contemporary social and political issues, such as his Red Clyde series from the 1980’s which depicted heroic Dockworkers, shop-stewards and urban areas along Glasgow’s River Clyde in response to then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s policies.

In 2009 Currie was commissioned by the University of Edinburgh to paint a portrait of Peter Higgs, the theoretical physicist.

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