The Canadian Contemporary Collection - The Average Size - The Average Colour (1978)

The Canadian Contemporary Collection — The Average Size — The Average Colour (1978) are two works created out from a series of thirty-three summary drawings which systematically analyze and summarize the colours and sizes of the thirty-two paintings from the Art Gallery of Ontario's (AGO) permanent collection which were being semi-permanently displayed in the Signy Eaton Gallery in the Canadian Wing in 1978.  

Kennedy's method of summary drawing consisted of marking a grid over a work, or an image of a work, and analyzing its colouration and content into quantifiable amounts. In this work, thirty-two of the drawings were individually visually analyzing the amount of space each colour occupied in order to deduce the overall average colour of each work in question. Kennedy presented these findings in a standardized layout which included a small picture of the original artwork with his hand drawn grid, and relationally painted colour squares illustrating the process of finding the works average colour. The thirty-third drawing computes the average surface area and depth of all the other paintings to surmise the overall average size of a painting in the collection. From these thirty-three summary works, Kennedy created The Average Size, a painting which contained no paint and was hung on a wall which was painted with The Average Colour of the collection. 

Kennedy speaks on these works:

"The Average Size: The painting is the average size of all the paintings in the upstairs Signy Eaton Gallery which, at the time of this exhibition, contains thirty-two works from the gallery's permanent collection of Canadian contemporary painting. The average surface area is computed by averaging the dimensions (parameters) of all the paintings and converting this average to its square equivalent which is 55 3/4" x 55 3/4". Similarly, the average depth is found to be 1 1/2". Hence the dimensions of the average size painting are 55 3/4" x 55 3/4" x 1 1/2". As the painting attempts to be exclusively about size, it contains no paint. Drawing number thirty-three illustrates the computation of the average size painting.

The Average Colour: The wall on which the painting, The Average Size, is placed is painted with two coats of the average colour of all the paintings in the upstairs collection. To determine the overall average colour, the average colour of each is found. This is achieved by analyzing each painting to find the surface area covered by its colours. By mixing these colours together in quantities in proportion to the area they cover, the average colour of each painting is found. All of these thirty-two average colours are mixed together in quantities related to the surface area of their respective paintings. The resulting mixture is the average, overall colour of the Canadian contemporary collection. Drawings one through thirty-two record the steps taken to determine the Average Colour." 

- Garry Neill Kennedy, Recent Works, pg. 49

Canadian Contemporary Collection — The Average Size — The Average Colour (1978) has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including in Garry Neill Kennedy: Recent Work (AGO, Toronto, 1978); 10 Canadian Artists in the 1970s (AGO, 1980); Garry Neill Kennedy: Wall Paintings and Related Works: 1974-1995 (Owens Art Gallery, Mount Allison University Sackville, NB, 1996; Portikus, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 1998); and Garry Neill Kennedy: Work of Four Decades (Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, 2000; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 2000; and Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, NB, 2001).