The Inconvenience of History
London Institute Gallery and Touring, 2004

This project consisted of 2 field trips to Israel and the Occupied Territories
in 2002 and resulted in an exhibition which opened at the London institute
Gallery in 2004 and which subsequently toured to the Naughton Gallery,
Queen’s University, Belfast, the Derby Museum, and Aberystwyth Art
Gallery. It was undertaken under the auspices of Christian Aid at a time
when Israeli incursions into the West Bank and Gaza had resulted in
considerable escalation of the conflict. My approach was travel to the
areas most affected, interview both Palestinians and Israelis, and record
with a stills and video camera material which would later be incorporated
into paintings in the studio. The paintings themselves emerged from
observations I made whilst I travelled in the region, sometimes deliberately
using the historical and cultural perspective of the Judaeo-Christian
tradition to allude to the importance of the Middle East in global politics.
I employed a variety of approaches to image making, including digital
media and ink jet printing mounted onto canvas. This involved further
exploration on the computer both for storing and manipulating
my direct source material in the process of making the paintings .
The second visit to the region and the studio process was filmed by the
BBC and the documentary John Keane: Artist at War broadcast on BBC4
and BBC2. A catalogue was published with an introduction by Suzanne
Goldenberg, who for several years was Guardian correspondent in Jerusalem.

The inconvenience of History I 2003,
oil and inkjet on viscose on linen, 81x122cm

The inconvenience of History IV 2003,
oil and inkjet on viscose on linen, 81x122cm

No Arabs no Terror 2003

oil and inkjet on viscose on linen 117x81cm

Ismael 2003

oil and inkjet on viscose on linen 126x84cm

Tel Aviv from the Occupied Territories 2003,
oil and gold leaf on canvas, 157x158cm

Moment 2003, oil and inkjet on paper on canvas, 173x293cm

Hopeless in Gaza (Road to Settlement) 2002
oil on linen 137 x 183 cm

Ramallah Ramallah 2003
oil and inkjet on viscose on linen, 25.5 x 20 cm each panel

School of the Innocents I, Jenin 2002
oil, beeswax and photocopies on paper

Hopeless in Gaza 2 (Nativity) 2003,
oil and photocopy on linen, 162x137cm

How Still We See Thee Lie
(darkness and light in the church of the nativity) 2003
oil and photocopy on linen 198x162cm

Armageddon Now 2003, oil and inkjet on viscose on linen, 165x250cm

Muqata 2002, oil on inkjet on paper

The Office of Yasser Arafat 2003

Oil/gold leaf on canvas 142x183cm

Road to Settlement II 2002, oil on inkjet on paper, 75 x 100 cm