I DON'T WANT TO PAYTHE FULL PRICE, wall-text scale drawing detail (24" x 114"), plan for wall-text painting in Beijing-Vancouver exhibition, Centre A, Vancouver, 2009. Photo: Diaz Contemporary
UH-HUH, wall-text scale drawing detail (20" x 58"), plan for wall-text painting in Sporting Type, exhibition at S.L. Simpson Gallery, Toronto, 1992. Photo: Diaz Contemporary
OTTO GOLD, wall-text scale drawing (19" x 23"), plan for wall-text painting in The Ironic Turn exhibition, The Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada, Toronto, 2004. Photo: Diaz Contemporary
TIT FOR TAT on the Tantramar Marsh, wall-text scale drawing (19" x 62"), plan for wall-text painting in The Ironic Turn exhibition, Owens Art Gallery, Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB, 2004. Photo: Diaz Contemporary
FAILURE OF INTELLIGENCE, wall-text scale drawing (19" x 80"), plan for wall-text painting at McMaster Art Gallery in Hamilton, ON, 2005. Photo: Diaz Contemporary
THE COLOURS OF CITIZEN ARAR, wall-text scale drawing (19" x 110"), plan for exhibition at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, 2007. Photo: Diaz Contemporary
NOTHING PERSONAL, wall-text scale drawing (19" x 66"), plan for wall-text painting at The Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada, Toronto, 2009. Photo: Diaz Contemporary
SUPERSTAR SHADOW, 8 framed wall-text scale drawings, plan for wall-text painting in Empire Yellow in Garry Neill Kennedy: Work of Four Decades, exhibition at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, 2000. Photo: Diaz Contemporary
SHIT HAPPENS, scale drawing detail, wall-text painting, SHIT HAPPENS / In Search of the Miraculous, Continued… exhibition, CANADA, New York City, 2006.
TWO NEW WARS, wall painting plan detail, scale drawing for installation at Emerson Gallery, Berlin, 2006. Photo: Diaz Contemporary
Wall-painting working drawings over THE COLOURS OF CITIZEN ARAR, installation view, exhibition, Diaz Contemporary, Toronto, 2012. Photo: Diaz Contemporary.
Wall-text drawings installation over Citizen of Arar colours, restaurant detail, The Drake One Fifty, Toronto, 2013. Photo: Diaz Contemporary
Wall-Text Scale Drawings (1992-2009) (2009)
Over the years Kennedy created numerous scale drawing for his large wall-text paintings. This meticulous planning work tied in with his love of counting and rational art production. While installing, Kennedy would tack these drawings up by the walls he was working on, referring to them constantly while taping and measuring. These scale drawings provide a window into the reasoning and artistic logic underlying these iconic works.
List of works and exhibiting locations:
I DON'T WANT TO PAY THE FULL PRICE — Pickled Arts, Beijing, China, 2007; Centre A, Vancouver, 2009
UH-HUH — S.L. Simpson Gallery, Toronto, 1992; Owens Art Gallery, Sackville, NB, 1996; Arts Museum, 2002
OTTO GOLD — Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto, 2004
TIT FOR TAT on the Tantramar Marsh — Owens Art Gallery, Sackville, NB, 2004
FAILURE OF INTELLIGENCE — McMaster University Art Gallery, Hamilton, ON, 2005
THE COLOURS OF CITIZEN ARAR — Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, 2007 (subsequently acquired by AGNS)
NOTHING PERSONAL — Khyber Arts Centre, Halifax, 2000; Faux Mouvement, Metz, France, 2004 (REIN DE PERSONNEL); The Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada, Toronto, 2009
SUPERSTAR SHADOW — Stride Gallery, Calgary, AB, 1986; Cold City Gallery, Toronto, 1986; Owens Art Gallery, Sackville, NB, 1996; Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, 2000; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 2000; Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, NB, 2001; Nickle Art Museum, Calgary, 2002
SHIT HAPPENS — CANADA, New York City, 2006
TWO NEW WARS—Emerson Gallery, Berlin, 2006