Addressing the morality of modern conflicts is far from an easy task, but this is what John Keane’s been doing for over 20 years. His new exhibition, ‘Scratching the Surface, Joining the Dots’, which opens tomorrow at The Flower Galleries in Mayfair, explores upheavals in our increasingly unstable world.

This new show mostly refers to recent events in the Middle East – obviously a subject rich in inspiration and resonance, and Keane certainly does not shy away from depicting the horrors that have occurred in the journey towards liberation.

Keane’s CV is undeniably impressive, with accolades including being the official war artist for the Imperial War Museum and painting a portrait of Kofi Anan for the United Nations. However, Keane is not averse to controversy, illustrated rather clearly by his ‘Slags against Jihad’ series, which may be though-provoking, but is also massively offensive.

Keane says of his work: ‘I am interested in the process of painting, and I am interested in why human beings want to kill one another for political ends’, Well, aren’t we all.

Scratching the Surface, Joining the Dots is on at The Flowers Gallery in Cork Street, from 12th January – 4th February 2012