The Comic Power of Ken Kiff's Sequence

The British painter Ken Kiff (1935-2001) emerged as a powerful force in figurative painting during the 1970s and 80s. He worked as associate artist at the National Gallery in 1993. He has, since this time, drifted from attention and is in some circles considered something of a parochial figure.
Most available writing on this artist focuses on the formal aspects of his work; colour and composition. Kiff himself often deflected conversation around the narrative content of his imagery. This article presents a reconsideration of the comic power of Kiff’s paintings with particular attention on the Sequence, a series of works on paper that Kiff made alongside his wider practice for the duration of his career.
The article is part of an initiative, with the collector John Talbot to bring together the Sequence in its entirety (some 130 pictures) for the first time in an internationally significant exhibition.