Christy Keeney studied ceramics at the Royal College of Art in London. Later, in 1988, he was commissioned by the sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi to work on a portrait of Richard Rodgers. This was for an exhibition at the National portrait gallery in London.
His figurative ceramics are an investigation into the human condition. His forms are stretched to the point where sculpture and drawing overlap.
After spending 17 years in London, Christy returned to his native Donegal where he now lives and works. His sculpted slab built heads and figures demonstrate a wonderful sense of draughtsmanship as details are drawn into the wet clay surface.
In the early 1980s when he was at College, Christy Keeney visited a retrospective exhibition of Picasso at the Tate gallery and many of his influences derived from seeing that work – especially a collection of small card-board cut-out and folded, figurative sculptures. These simple two dimensional pieces opened a world of possibilities on how he would approach his own work.
