September’s artist of the month at Full of Beans is Jason Kennedy. The 33-year-old Canadian, an emerging artist in the local scene, is steadily making a name for himself, largely due to his fresh take on contemporary Caymanian life.
Forget the balmy seascapes and hibiscus-covered cottages, Kennedy’s most noteworthy paintings to date center largely on modern Caymanians at work, rest and play. Lively, direct and saturated with color, what makes his portraits stand out in particular is the way his subjects engage the viewer – demanding attention.
Portraiture
Kennedy’s portraiture, with its fluid brush strokes, strong palettes and flamboyant points of view, is drawn from a variety of influences, marking him as a new chronicler of our times. Not willing to be pigeon-holed as an artist who depicts only one type of subject in one kind of way, he finds inspiration from whatever his eye is drawn to.
“I’ve no fixed agenda and my personal paintings are subjects that attract, intrigue and inspire me,” Kennedy says.
Working mainly from photographic images taken by himself and others, he captures everyday folk, often in highly stylized ways, which gives his work a modern and realistic edge. Aided by his fine arts training, Kennedy has a magpie’s eye for taking a moment of a subject’s life and indelibly claiming it on canvas. In his more evolved paintings, Kennedy heightens our empathy with the subject with the deft use of visual technique: Take for instance the softer portrayal of the dog in a backstreet setting in “By the Steps” and the fisheye lens perspective of “Fish Market #1.”
Working primarily in his chosen medium of acrylic “because it is environmentally friendly and allows me to paint quickly,” his pieces are attracting a new and younger audience who appreciate his re-imagining of Cayman life in a way that resonates with them.
“As a painter, I’m a storyteller … I’m positioning myself as a portrait artist who likes adding movement to my pieces,” he says. Undoubtedly influenced by pop culture and his extensive travels throughout the region, Kennedy’s most sought-after work to date “has elements of Cubism in its colors, blocks and simplification … It’s also stylized in a way that’s cartoonish [yet looks to] capture the essence of what is true.” Other cultural influences cited include art in Havana, Miami, street art in Toronto and media imagery.
Generation Y artist
Hand in hand with his depiction of contemporary Cayman is his use of social media to reach a wider audience quickly. Given his willingness to use social platforms, it is telling that the Generation Y artist says that his most recognized piece to date is “Sunday Afternoon.” Posted on Facebook within minutes of his having finished it, the original sold to an overseas buyer in less than half an hour. One of his “Characters collection,” the painting is a bold example of the immediacy and easy intimacy with which Kennedy’s subjects attract the viewer.
Other paintings in the series, which most notably include “The Thatch Lady,” “Beach Cruising” and “Drums in George Town,” have attracted comment from Facebookers and the Twitterati and are helping cement Kennedy’s reputation as an artist to look out for.
Such unabashed use of the Internet, including setting up his art website Jasonkennedyart.com, has become central to the painter’s marketing strategy to introduce his work and gain ideas for future projects.
“It’s huge. Anytime I post a painting, it drives exposure and I can gauge what people like … what’s successful and what isn’t.” He adds that such feedback has increased his confidence to tackle abstract work like “Room to Spare” and “Breaking Bread” that can be displayed in a wide range of residential and commercial settings.
Kennedy and his muse and business manager, Monica Walton, are constantly looking to take his art to new audiences. “I don’t want my work to be multidimensional. I need my work to evolve to avoid being pigeonholed,” he explains. So projects like the large-scale mural which takes pride of place outside Cayman Cabana help.
This need to push on and expand his repertoire means that he is never more content than when working on a series, he suddenly gets a request which requires an unexpected change of direction. And as an artist with one foot in the creative world and the other in the marketplace, Kennedy’s need for constant change is even incorporated in his prints. “Most of my originals have been sold, and so I alter each print so that they are customized to give each buyer something unique,” he says. He is currently working on new pieces and is excited about what the future holds.
Commissions
The artist, whose work was first shown in a group exhibition at the Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman last summer, paints in his free time. In the evenings and on weekends, Kennedy works at his easel and at his kitchen table, which is strewn with materials and photographs.
The need for new challenges has lately meant branching out into commissioned work. One such work, “Big V,” is realistic and uses more fine detail than is usually seen in his work. According to Kennedy, the piece is representative of the kind of portraiture he is increasingly being called on to do.
“I create art as a way to relax, express myself and to feel a sense of accomplishment. When I am creating specifically for someone else and see that they truly love the final product, I feel real joy.”
While taking on bespoke work often requires a degree of compromise which not all artists welcome, he likes the challenge. Gregarious and energetic, Kennedy is keen to collaborate to win work.
“I’m happy to be flexible, and so after we meet and discuss their needs we find some middle ground so that I can manage their expectations … I want to be seen as approachable.”
Related Videos
