Tina Keane (b. 1948)

Tina Keane is a London-based artist who has been a pioneer in the use of electronic media in the visual arts. Keane's multimedia work She is an early example of performance work to incorporate live video and slide projections and was presented for the first time at The Hayward Gallery in 1978.She works across a wide range of media from performance and installation to film, video, internet and digital art. Reflecting a feminist perspective, her works often explore gender roles and sexuality.

Keane studied at Hammersmith College of Art and Sir John Cass School of Art between 1976 and 1970 and awarded an MA in Independent Film and Video from London College of Printing in 1996. Since 1982 Keane has herself been a Lecturer in Film & Video at Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, London, and held the position of Research Fellow here betwen 2003 to 2012. As a Visiting Lecturer she has taught widely throughout the UK and abroad, including Harvard University.

Keane is a founding member of 'Circles - Women in Distribution' and curator and programmer of exhibitions and screenings including The New Pluralism exhibition at the Tate in 1985. Keane has won awards from the Arts Council, Channel 4, the British Council and London Production Board. In 2015, Keane was one of the winners of the 21st annual Paul Hamlyn Foundation Awards for Artists.

Her experimental and innovative approach using developing technology has been challenging the medium of film and video art. Her performance Transposition - consisting of video projected onto human body, using the performer’s skin as surface instead of a conventional screen - was first shown at the Museum of Modern Art, Vienna in 1992 and subsequently re-edited into a double screen video installation and  presented at the inaugural Tanks program at Tate Modern, London, in 2012.

Open Gallery features in its collection five Video Paintings by the artist. These works document the slow yet constant passing of time through the ever-evolving spectacle of nature.

Keane has exhibited widely both nationally and internationally. Selected exhibitions include Tina Keane, England & Co, London (2013), Carousel, a new outdoor moving image installation, Nara, Japan (2010), Blue Moon, Night Garden Art Project, Kyoto, Japan (2009), Yvonne Hagen Remembers Yves Klein, New York Film Festival (2008), Persistent Obsessions, England & Co, London (2008), The Secret Public: The Last Days of the British Underground 1978-1988,  Kunstverein München and ICA, London (2006), Le Jardin, Sketch, London (2005), A Century of British Film, Tate Britain, London (2003), Ghost Train, video/sound/neon installation. Paço das Artes, Sao Paulo (2002), Unbridled Echoes, Artsway Gallery, Sway (2000), In a Different Light, MOMA, Glasgow (1999), Film Screening of Tina Keane films, Artist Film and Video Series, Tate Modern, London (1999), Deviant Beauty Film. 4th ICA Biennial in conjunction with the Arts Council of  England and the British Council (1997), Transposition, Street Level Gallery, Glasgow (1996).

"I wanted to explore the way light hits the water and how nature naturally unfolds however slowly, I also want to develop my interest in flowers and their subtle movement." Tina Keane