John Burke (artist)

John Burke (1946 – 11 May 2006) was an Irish sculptor. He was born in Clonmel, County Tipperary.

He attended the Crawford Municipal School of Art from 1964–67, winning the Cork Arts Society Award in 1967 and the McCauley Fellowship in 1970.

He then went to London and worked for a year as assistant to Bryan Kneale. His study of early 20th century Constructivism and of the work of David Smith led him to produce welded steel sculptures in which colour provided a final incidental and decorative element that disguised scrap-metal forms that would otherwise have been too readily recognisable.

Works

• Etsumi (1973, Belfast, Ulster Mus.)