Born in 1936, John Kingerlee is considered one of Ireland's leading contemporary artists, well regarded for his abstract landscape work, and multi-layered impasto effect heads, figures and compositions, often seen in his abstract 'grid' paintings. Kingerlee has been painting seriously since the early sixties. Despite having no formal training in art, his talent was recognised and he had his first solo exhibition in London in 1967. Around this time, he settled in Cornwall and remained there for about twenty years, with the exception of long breaks in Spain and Morocco, before moving in 1982, to a farmhouse on the Beara peninsular in Cork, removed and secluded from the norms of the modern world.
Kingerlee has made his name as a significant contemporary artist, exhibiting widely across Ireland, North America and further afield. His paintings feature in many prestigious collections and a comprehensive book on his life and work, by Jonathan Benington, was published in 2006. Kingerlee has a special relationship with the wonderful land and seascape of the Beara Peninsula and he uses his genius to interpret and portray his dramatic surroundings.