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 05/07/2008
SCAD-Atlanta presents Marcus Kenney's "Yes No Maybe So"
Marcus Kenney (M.F.A., photography, 1995), the new communism, mixed media, 20” x 23” x 8”, 2008. Courtesy of the artist and the Marcia Wood Gallery.
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ATLANTA — The Savannah College of Art and Design-Atlanta will host a multimedia exhibition by SCAD alumnus Marcus Kenney (M.F.A., photography, 1995) through June 15 in Gallery See, 1600 Peachtree St., Atlanta, Ga. Kenney will give an artist’s talk May 27 at 6 p.m., followed by a reception from 7-8 p.m. in the events space adjacent to the gallery. Both events are free and open to the public.
Inspired by artists such as Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns, Yes No Maybe So showcases collages and sculptures created entirely through the appropriation of found objects. Kenney’s recycling of materials — illustrated in taxidermically stuffed animals adorned with human accessories and an installation with 101 multicolored plaster babies, for example — encourages dialogue about social, racial and political issues.
Summer Orndorff, registrar for the SCAD Museum of Art and a longtime friend of Kenney’s, cited two major influences on his reclamation and use of abandoned materials: his upbringing in rural Louisiana and the loss of his home in a fire when he was a teenager.
“No effort is made to clean or erase the history apparent on the materials and the stains, creases, tears and fading all suggest a personal history or memory,” Orndorff said.
While appropriation and the incorporation of social history into the subjects of the work are not new territories for Kenney, the pieces in Yes No Maybe So map a new trajectory in his artistic practice.
As Kenney put it, “Wigs, yes. Trash, yes. Animals, yes. Turpentine, no. Acrylic, no. Oil paint, no. Art that reels in some of today’s most political, religious and social expectations and turns them on their head, maybe so!”
Kenney’s work has been featured in Art in America, NYArts Magazine, O at Home, Creative Loafing and The South Magazine. His work has been exhibited in numerous venues, including the Marcia Wood Gallery in New York and Atlanta; the Robert Steele Gallery, New York; the Pepper Gallery, Boston; and the Jepson Center for the Arts, Savannah, Ga. Kenney lives in Savannah with his wife and three children.
For more information, e-mail SCAD Exhibitions.
Named one of Kaplan’s “25 cutting-edge schools with an eye toward the future,” the Savannah College of Art and Design is a private, nonprofit, accredited institution with locations in Atlanta and Savannah, Ga., and in Lacoste, France. Undergraduate and graduate degree programs also are offered online through SCAD-eLearning. The college offers Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Master of Architecture, Master of Arts, Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Fine Arts, and Master of Urban Design degrees.
For more information about the college, e-mail admission, call 800.869.7223 or 912.525.5100 in Savannah, or call 877.722.3285 or 404.253.2700 in Atlanta.
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