The walls of a large open gallery space are filled from floor to ceiling with a colourful mural. Blue, white and green background sections frame abstract figures supporting one another. Their multicoloured bodies overlap, their blocks of colour changing upon contact.

3X (2010)

In 1953, William Perehudoff was commissioned to paint a mural for the reception room outside of Fred Mendel’s office at Intercontinental Packers Limited in Saskatoon. Intercontinental Packers Reception Room Murals remained in situ there until the building was set for demolition, and in 2009 they were rescued by a team of art conservators and put in the care of the Mendel Art Gallery (now the Remai Modern). 

Leading up to the 2010 exhibition The Optimism of Colour: William Perehudoff, a retrospective, the then curator of the Mendel, Jen Budney, told Kennedy about the rescued murals and offered him a large gallery space to work. In response Kennedy proposed 3X, a recreation of Perehudoff's original mural at three times the size; a scale which enabled Kennedy to fill the gallery space from floor to celling just as Perehudoff's work had filled the reception room. 

 

Related Readings / Media:
A Brief Timeline: William Perehudoff’s Intercontinental Packers Reception Room …
Themes / Topics:
Collections
Forms / Mediums:
Exhibition
Painting
Site-Specific
Wall paintings