Virtual Studio Visit: Coby Kennedy
May 28, 2020
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Join Pelham Art Center for a virtual studio visit with Coby Kennedy
About Coby
A Columbia University MFA graduate, industrial conceptual designer and 2011 Skowhegan Fellow, Coby Kennedy has exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and abroad including Japan, South Africa and Europe. He has received the Civil Society Institute Fellowship, the One World Award, as well as International Quorum of Motion Picture Producers, Zurich Switzerland and the Gold Camera Award, US International Film & Video Festival for his collaborative film works. A Pratt Institute Industrial Design undergraduate, his fine art and design work has been showcased and reviewed in publications including The New York Times, Italy’s La Repubblica, Hyperallergic and Japan’s Car Styling Magazine. Recent creative collaborations have included Kohler, Honda, Sony Japan and Italy’s Ferrari S.p.A.
Coby Kennedy lives and works in New York.
Artist Statement
My work deals with often unspoken and unaddressed dynamics of modern social entitlement, problematics of self image and concepts of history repeating itself through the ever present faults of humanity. Using the communication tools of advertising and the entertainment industry, my painting, video and sculpture hint at unspoken truths, the culture of veiled intent and questions of subjective realities. The work touches on Kurzweilian issues of The Singularity, as well as exploring often overlooked global issues of social class, power and influence as it exists today, has existed in the past, and as it will exist tomorrow.
Through the use of cinematic aesthetics narrative characters become the embodiment of contemporary societal archetypes and the representation of modern social dynamics are pushed to the absurd magnifying the underlying bizarre angles of our sometimes seemingly quotidian existence.
A strong throughline in my work is the exploration of the human tendency to build empire on the foundation of mythology/theology, juxtaposing the history of Power, Control and Privilege to its modern day present in order to predict its future.