Born in Rusholme, Manchester in1941, Geoffrey Key entered the High School of Art, Manchester .
In 1958 Key entered the Regional College of Art Manchester where he won the Guthrie Bond Travelling Fellowship, the Heywood Fine Art Medal and a Post Graduate in Sculpture.
His early professional career combined painting and sculpture with a full – time teaching post.
Salford Art Gallery mounted a major one – man exhibition of Geoffrey Key’s work in the mid – 1960’s to considerable acclaim.
Geoffrey Key’s work features in important public and private collections in the UK and abroad.
He has exhibited widely throughout his career and at the present time galleries in the UK, Ireland, Australia and Hong Kong handle his work.
The human figure is a constant theme of Geoffrey Key’s work. He assimilates visual memories, allowing the subconscious to distil the image to its essential elements, from where his own creative expression then takes over.
The two paintings on the web site are both figure paintings which show his artistic development. In Arms Raised a work of 1977 you see the human form as a landscape of essential form , the spare palette of umber and cream is typical of his work of this period.
Seaside Girls painted in 1999 depicts two sculptural girls painted with a vibrant palette. The girls in 50’s style bathing costumes are walking in front of a choppy sea. The painting is powerful, combining strong drawing and imaginative brio.