A driving concern throughout Simon Kennedy’s art practice has been to capture a particular quality of light: a light that gleams best in dark places.This light is silvery, almost ultraviolet, like the light in the South Island of New Zealand. It is eerie, iridescent and slightly gothic. It is the light that shapes the world of the Dutch Masters, and which helps sculpt the faces of a Man Ray. For the last twenty years Kennedy has pursued this strange quality through painting, drawing, and photography.
Simon Kennedy (b.1973) is a BFA graduate from the Otago Polytechnic School of Art in Dunedin. Before relocating to Sydney, he staged several solo exhibitions with Marshall Seifert Gallery in Dunedin and won the Waiheke Art Prize in 2005. His work has featured in numerous group exhibitions in Sydney, Melbourne and New Zealand and has been collected by the New Zealand Parliament Collection, the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and Artbank.
SIMON KENNEDY
Ghost 2017
silver gelatin print
20.3 × 25.5 cm
(48 × 41 cm framed)
Edition of edition of 1 + 1 AP
SIMON KENNEDY
Mr Cunningham 2017
silver gelatin print
46.5 × 41.5 cm (framed)
Edition of edition of 1 + 1 AP
SIMON KENNEDY
Mr Squires 2017
silver gelatin print
20.3 × 25.5 cm
(70 × 57 cm framed)
Edition of edition of 1 + 1 AP
SIMON KENNEDY
Ms Nina 2019
charcoal and watercolour on paper
57 × 48 × 4 cm (framed)
SIMON KENNEDY
Night Scene 2019
oil on canvas
204 × 153 cm (framed)
SIMON KENNEDY
Think 2017
silver gelatin print
24 × 30.5 cm
(71.5 × 55 cm framed)
Edition of edition of 1 + 1 AP
AUCKLAND ART FAIR 2018
23 May – 27 May 2018
GROUP SHOW
ALTERED SILVER
15 December – 09 December 2017
SIMON KENNEDY
9 ALMOST 10
31 August – 17 September 2016
GROUP SHOW
SPRING 1883
17 August – 21 August 2016
GROUP SHOW
SURREALISM
08 April – 02 May 2015
SIMON KENNEDY
GROUP SHOW
18 March – 02 April 2015
GROUP SHOW
MELBOURNE ART FAIR 2014
13 August – 17 August 2014
GROUP SHOW
START ART FAIR, SAATCHI GALLERY LONDON
26 June – 29 June 2014
GROUP SHOW
SYDNEY CONTEMPORARY 2013
20 September – 22 September 2013
GROUP SHOW
THE STENOGRAPHER
14 August – 07 September 2013
SIMON KENNEDY
GROUP SHOW
27 January – 18 February 2012
GROUP SHOW
THE PRESERVED
02 November – 26 November 2011
SIMON KENNEDY
GROUP SHOW
18 August – 04 September 2010
GROUP SHOW
DEPRESSION
03 June – 28 June 2009
SIMON KENNEDY