Kevin Sharkey | |
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 Sharkey in April 2014 | |
| Born | 3 June 1961 Dublin, Ireland |
| Website | kevinsharkeyart |
Kevin Sharkey (born 3 June 1961) is an Irish artist, political activist, and former television presenter and actor. He sought a nomination to run in the 2018 Irish presidential election, but withdrew his bid on 17 September 2018. [1] [2]
Sharkey was born in St Patrick's Mother and Baby Home in Dublin on 3 June 1961, the son of an Irish mother and a Nigerian father who was a student at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland at the time. [3] He was given up for adoption and raised by the Sharkey family in Killybegs, County Donegal. [4] As a child, he took part in Irish dancing, in which he won 37 medals before the age of 12. [5] He was also a runner-up in the all Ireland Disco dancing championship at Zhivago nightclub at the age of 16.[ citation needed ]
Sharkey says his relationship with his adoptive parents was sometimes abusive, eventually resulting in him being put into foster care when aged 12. He was sent to live at St Joseph's Industrial School in Salthill in Galway, where he witnessed sexual abuse against young pupils by Christian Brothers staff, and left at the age of 16. [6] He also suffered physical abuse; the school was the subject of a police investigation and a national scandal in 1996. [6] However, it was during his stay there that he discovered his passion for painting, which he said provided him with a sense of escapism. [7] His art career began at the age of 30, when he experimented with oils on canvas and bright colours.[ citation needed ]
Sharkey has had many different career paths, including being a chef, a fisherman, a singer-songwriter, and a TV presenter. He was Ireland's first ever bi-racial television presenter on a show called Megamix, and presented British television music show The Roxy from 1987. [8] He was also briefly a photographer and a model, photographed by David Bailey. [9]
Sharkey regularly collaborated with Irish rock band, The Boomtown Rats, and German disco group Boney M., writing lyrics and melodies for both. [10] He wrote the latter group's 1989 single Everybody Wants to Dance Like Josephine Baker. [11]
Sharkey had a small part in Father Ted , playing a priest named Father Shaft in two episodes. His most famous line came after a nun, seeing his dark complexion, asked him what he thought of all the work being done in Africa by priests; he replied in his thick Irish accent, "Sure I wouldn't know, I'm from Donegal." [12] He was also a farmhand in the Irish TV series Celebrity Farm where he was the fourth farmhand to be evicted. [13] Sharkey's difficult relationship with the other celebrity contestants was the subject of news media attention. He refused to join cast members on a reunion show on RTÉ One's The Late Late Show , choosing to appear on the rival network, TV3's The Dunphy Show instead. [14] [15]
Irish singer and songwriter Bob Geldof was the first person to buy a Sharkey painting, [16] with other collectors of his work including Charles Saatchi, Rosie Huntington Whitley, Michael Portillo, Courtney Love, Whitney Houston, Matt Lucas, and the President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins. [12]
Sharkey has been a full-time artist since 1992. He was described by Ireland's Sunday Independent as "A True Irish Legend"[ citation needed ] and by Sky News as "Pure Genius",[ citation needed ] he and his provocative canvas painting "You May Now Kiss the Groom", was also listed on CNN's "Monday's Intriguing people" in 2010 for its proposition of Gay Marriage. [17] His art is considered abstract, modern work, with bright, textured colours. His style is also regarded as stylistically diverse with many of his works being visually different from each other.
He has had exhibitions in Dublin, London, Ibiza, Amsterdam and New York City. In 2007 his What Colour Are Kisses? exhibition sold out completely within 48 hours. He has had gallery shows solely dedicated to his work in Dublin, Donegal, Mayo, Boyle, Ibiza and London's Mayfair. His painting Roisin raised €26,100 in 2008 for People in Need in the RTÉ Telethon. [8] His work has included, Samantha Mumba's bust and 'Moolah' (a life sized cow covered in €18,000 of real banknotes – during the height of Ireland's Celtic Tiger phenomenon). Sharkey paintings were also included in the music video of Estelle and Kanye West's 2008 hit single, American Boy. [18]
His Public Enemy Number One exhibition was on a twelve date tour of the world (including New York, Tokyo, Rome and Rio de Janeiro). [19] The public figures featured in the exhibition included Jordan as Myra Hindley, Barack Obama wearing Ku Klux Klan robes (made from U.S. flags), the Pope marrying a gay couple, and Angelina Jolie & Madonna passing each other in a supermarket aisle pushing trolleys full of multi-racial children. [20]
In 2013, Sharkey filed a lawsuit against Octagon Films and Irish broadcast network RTÉ for unauthorized use of his artwork in Irish crime series "Love/Hate". He also filed for damages over the portrayal of his work being "liked by a dangerous killer and drug addict". [21] [22] The case was eventually settled out of court in late 2014. [23]
In August 2016, Sharkey was arrested in Dublin over alleged art theft. He denied these allegations as the purportedly stolen paintings were his. He told police that he had destroyed the paintings in 2014 because they "were inferior works of art". Claiming he set them on fire in an alleyway as "they just weren't very good and I didn't want them showing up at auction". [24] In October, he was ordered by a Circuit Civil Court to pay €5,000 in damages and legal fees of another €10,000 over highly defamatory Twitter comments. [25]
In late 2005, Sharkey announced his intention to take the Irish State to the European Court of Human Rights in order to force the recognition of same-sex partnerships, specifically civil partnerships. He cited personal reasons for this, decrying the fact that if he were to marry his long-term male partner Ade Antigha in Spain, where the two were living at the time, the marriage would not be recognised by Irish law. [26] Ireland subsequently legalised civil partnerships (in 2011) and same-sex marriage (in 2015).
In September 2013, Sharkey joined Sinn Féin. He cited the "dedication" of its then deputy leader, Mary Lou McDonald TD as his reason for doing so. [9] Sharkey however left the party in 2016 because he felt he was just being used as a "poster boy". [27]
In May 2016, Sharkey voiced his opposition to Irish government spending on foreign aid, as well as the influx of immigration in Ireland. [4]
In March 2017, Sharkey denounced the Catholic Church's role in the Tuam foster home scandal, invoking his own negative experience of the Irish foster care system at the time, mentioning sexual abuse and the existence of unmarked graves of young boarders who had died at his school in Salthill, Galway. [28]
In the same month, Sharkey announced his opposition to current Irish immigration policy and the contentious atmosphere surrounding debate of the issue, declaring he intended to enter politics in order to open up dialogue. [29] In the months since he made several appearances on Irish television and radio speaking out against political correctness and the perceived prioritization of immigrant citizens over native born Irish citizens when it came to public services. [30] [31] [32] [33]
In March 2018, Sharkey announced his candidacy for the 2018 Irish Presidential Election, on an "Ireland First" platform. [34] [1] He later withdrew from the race, calling it a "circus". [2]
Sharkey supports the death penalty, saying he believes the death penalty would be an appropriate punishment for those who harm elderly people. [35] [36]
Sharkey is bisexual. He became engaged to his girlfriend, Italian art dealer Carmen Sant Angelo, in 2010. [37] [38]
In 2016, while struggling with his finances, Sharkey briefly became homeless while living in Dublin. [8]
Celebrity Farm was a 2003 Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) reality television show, based on the international TV format The Farm, produced by Strix. Held along similar lines as I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, Celebrity Farm required eight of Ireland's C-List celebrities to spend seven days on a farm with one being voted off every evening. It was hosted by Ear to the Ground presenter Mairead McGuinness and the prize money was €50,000 to the charity of their choice.
Brendan Courtney is an Irish TV presenter and fashion designer. He was the first openly gay presenter in Ireland. He has hosted Wanderlust on RTÉ Two, The Brendan Courtney Show on TV3.
Daniel Francis Noel O'Donnell, MBE is an Irish singer, television presenter and philanthropist. After rising to public attention in 1983, he has since become a household name in Ireland and Britain; he has also had considerable success in Australia. In 2012, he became the first artist to have a different album in the British charts every year for 25 consecutive years. This record has been extended and as of 2021, O'Donnell has had an album in the Official Albums Chart each year for the last 33 years.
Desmond Cahill is an Irish sports presenter and commentator with national broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann. From 2009 to 2022, Cahill presented RTÉ television's GAA highlights programme The Sunday Game.
Michael Murphy is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays as a full forward for Glenswilly and, formerly, for the Donegal county team, which he captained from December 2010 until his retirement from inter-county football in November 2022. His predecessors as Donegal players, such as Manus Boyle, Brendan Devenney and Anthony Molloy, regard Murphy as the county's greatest ever footballer. Outside his county he is often regarded as one of the sport's all-time best players. With more than 500 points, Murphy is Donegal's all-time record scorer and he is also the county's top goalscorer, with a points-per-game average that is higher even than Martin McHugh.
Jim McGuinness is a Gaelic football coach, and former player, who won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship as a player with, and later manager of, the Donegal county team. Since 2023, he has been manager, for the second time, of Donegal's senior team.
Eamonn Doherty is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for St Eunan's and the Donegal county team.
Events during the year 2011 in Ireland.
The following is a list of events relating to television in Ireland from 2012.
Mark McHugh is an Irish Gaelic footballer and coach who plays for Cill Chartha and, formerly, for the Donegal county team. He is the brother of Ryan and the son of Martin.
Michael Boyle is an Irish sportsperson and Gaelic football coach. He plays with his local club Termon and also, formerly, for the Donegal county team.
Martin McElhinney is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for St Michael's and also, formerly, for the Donegal county team.
Ryan McHugh is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for Cill Chartha and the Donegal county team. He is the brother of Mark and the son of Martin.
Martin 'Marty' O'Reilly is an Irish Gaelic footballer and hurler who plays for Seán Mac Cumhaills of Ballybofey and also, formerly, for the Donegal county football team.
Events during the year 2018 in Ireland.
Ian Burke is a Gaelic footballer from Corofin, County Galway, who played at senior level for the Galway county team.
Mark Anthony McGinley is an Irish sportsperson. He has played Gaelic football as a goalkeeper for St Michael's and was formerly number one keeper with his county team, Donegal. McGinley has also been involved in the sport of association football and currently plays in the League of Ireland Premier Division with Finn Harps. He is from Ards, County Donegal.
Samantha Kay, known professionally as Soulé, is an Irish singer-songwriter who was born in London but raised in Dublin
St Patrick's Mother and Baby Home was an institution for unwed mothers and babies which operated for 81 years on the Navan Road in Dublin, Ireland.
Peter Campion is an Irish actor and presenter. He is best known for his roles in the RTÉ One drama Love/Hate (2010–2011) and the Channel 4 sitcoms London Irish (2013) and Derry Girls (2018–2022).
Mother and baby homes in Ireland | ||
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