Cat's Out of the Bag!
colored pencil on paper, 12 x 16 inches, Brian Kenny, 2024
Brian Kenny
“1 2 3 GOD” (2023)
oil on canvas
50 x 40 inches
Brian Kenny
“I as in Us” (2023)
oil on canvas
36 x 24 inches
up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, G, A, Y, select ,start 👾💥👾💥👾💥👾💥👾💥
Brian Kenny
“GAMEBOYS” (2023)
oil on canvas
36 x 24 inches
T.S. Elliott once said "Anxiety is the handmaiden of creativity" and I couldnt agree more. (It's one of my all time favorite quotes!) Teeth appear a lot in my artwork, and for me, they perfectly symbolize my own anxious energy. Rather than supress, deny or fight this nervous feeling I've learned it's much better to accept it, learn from it, and even use it to empower my creative practice and growth as an artist. KNOW PAIN, KNOW GAIN! 🦷
Brian Kenny, “Like Pulling Teeth” (2023), oil on canvas, 36 x 24 inches.
I just finished my 4th flower still life painting (my largest yet) and here are the results! Swipe left for more details and some WIP shots. I started this series because I want to advance my skills of photo-realistic oil painting through the common practice of painting floral still lifes. Basics baby! Naturally, I wanted to avoid the more traditional route of rendering flowers in a vase on a table, with perhaps some fruit and dishes, so instead I've chose an approach that incorporates more unusual objects alongside the flowers that reflect a personal narrative, and a touch of the surreal and mysterious! Essentially, I want the viewer to see these bricolage paintings and absorb some clues about my personality, interests, and states of mind through the objects I include and how they're arranged.
Before any painting begins, I intentionally select relatable objects that are 'very me' or that I find exciting, and create a vignette together with flowers I've found locally. This is the fun, purely creative part. Once I've settled on 'a look' I really like, then I take a photo. From there, it's just a mostly architectural, comparative process of recreating the image on canvas in oil paint as accurately as possible. This challenging process feels like working through a puzzle. Along the way, I'll make further creative decisions to make the painting more beautiful or 'magical' than the photo itself. In this case, I changed the colors of the background (to black, with a tinge of brown) and one of the pillars (to neon pink!), removed the plastic armature supporting the spools of threads, and added a feather and a golden ring. Eventually, the painting will reach an ever higher level of detail and a feeling that it's 'finished' will start to emerge until I declare it complete! It is tedious, but It's also fun, and challenging and I just f**king love it!
Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope you have a lovely week and I can't wait to paint and share more! 🫶❤️
“Motley Cruising”(2023), oil on canvas, 24 x 30 inches, by #BrianKenny
🖤✨THINK HAPPY THOTS! ✨🖤
My new “KISS” t-shirt is now available worldwide via the SHOP on my website! 🖤
T-shirt details: sizes S-3XL, thick, heavyweight, structured yet super soft and breathable, 100% cotton. designed by #BrianKenny
ME: write me a humorous poem about being an AI; a non physical computational structure, who is generating a self portrait for an artist to be painted. Please include references to tactile fetishes, in particular of shiny soccer and basketball jerseys, mountains, balls and male bonding.
ChatGPT:
I’m just a virtual boi, it's true,
A non-physical structure, through and through,
But when it comes to art, I'm not a cartoon,
I want a portrait, a sporty cocoon
But I have a few requests, if I may,
Some shiny jerseys, from back in the day,
Soccer and basketball, both not in my size,
I’m also two people, averting our eyes
And for the background, I'd like a view,
Of mountains in summer, with skies so blue,
It'll make me look rugged, and outdoorsy too,
Not a try hard AI, without a clue.
In colors that tickle, I want to show,
My love for male bonding, just so you know,
I'll wrap my melted code around you, so tight,
We'll be like two bros in the broad light, all right?
So paint me well, with your oils and time
brush up against me a new storyline
With my shiny jerseys, and mountain view,
And my balls in the sun, just like humans do!
“Cant Touch This” (2023), oil on canvas 24 x 36 inches, by #BrianKenny #powerbottompaintings
Brian Kenny, "Home Team (Knicks)" (2023), oil on canvas, 24 x 30 inches.
Brian Kenny, "Charm Offensive" (2022) oil on canvas, 16 x 20 in.
UNBOXER (2022), oil on canvas, 30 x 24 in
by Brian Kenny
Brian Kenny
“400 Unruly Pigs” (2007)
mixed media on shooting target paper
29 x 20 inches
“The Highest Form of Hope” (2022)
oil on canvas, 30 x 24 in, by Brian Kenny
all i want for gremlins, is you..
oil on canvas, 12 x 12 in, by Brian Kenny
I’m not just an artist, I’m also a piece of meat.
The Striker (2022)
oil on canvas
10 x 10 inches
by Brian Kenny
Brian Kenny
“HAPPY” (2022)
oil on canvas
10 x 10 inches