Description:
Ken Pratt (1946-1995)
James Bros & Chipperfield Circus and Robert Grandfather's Circus', c1986
Poster paint on board
1200mm x 1500mm
Ken Pratt achieved a degree of local success through his involvement as a day student on the fine art course at Mid-Warwickshire College. Pratt’s ability in handling form and composition was recognised and nurtured by his tutor, who arranged an exhibition of his work entitled ‘Private World’ in 1987. Pratt had learning difficulties: a man in his forties, his learning age was that of a 12-15 year old. He showed a consistent determination to illustrate his own ‘private world’, and paintings would often take him weeks to complete. The subjects Pratt painted were inspired by places he had been, people he had met, or books he had read. This lively, colourful, carefully constructed, typically exact composition clearly demonstrates Ken’s enthusiasm for the circus, and for his home town. Ken Pratt’s work features in the ‘Outsider Collection Archive’, founded by Monika Kinley, which is currently housed at the Irish Museum of Modern Art.