Special Presentation (1982)

Kennedy's 1982 work, Special Presentation, consists of a series of newspaper photographs showing the presentation of awards, cheques, medals and other honorary symbols installed at their "presentation height", around handshake level, as well as a series of newspaper notices announcing the work though the duration of the exhibition. Kennedy speaks to the works details:

"The work is in two parts. The first part takes place in the newspaper. It consists of a notice appearing in the Chronicle Herald and the Mail Star* in each Thursday's entertainment page for the five-week duration of the work beginning Thursday, October 21, the day of its opening. The notice contains the date, place and title of the exhibition, plus a clipping from a previous day's presentation photo. The notice also gives a brief description of the second part of the work which takes place in the Dalhousie Art Gallery. The second part is an exhibition consisting of a large number of details clipped from presentation photographs gathered (regularly from January 15, 1982) from the pages of the Chronicle Herald and the Mail Star. The clippings have been dry-mounted and are placed on the gallery wall forming a continuous line at 'presentation height'. Additional clippings are taken from the paper and placed on the wall during the five-week duration of the work. Each Thursday's entertainment page is displayed in the gallery to show the work's current notice. In addition, each week's newspaper serves as the work's catalogue and is sold to the gallery visitors at the going rate. It is stamped on the front page 'Garry Neill Kennedy Special Presentation Entertainment Page — G.N.K.' *I am grateful to the Halifax Herald for contributing the weekly notices. Linda Milrod was the Director of the Dalhousie Art Gallery and curated the exhibition."

— Garry Neill Kennedy, Garry Neill Kennedy: Wall Paintings & Related Works 1974-1995, pg.146