K E N N E D Y Y A N K O
"Quiet Bystanders 1" 18" x 18" x 13," acrylic and metal. 2017
KENNEDY YANKO ELEMENTS & SKIN
Detail of "Reclaim." 60" x 42," metal and paper. 2017
"Marble and Skin 6" 8" x 12" x 3," marble and acrylic paint. 2017
After working almost exclusively with acrylic paint, I’ve introduced wood, metal, and marble to my practice. These elements have become a new framework, adding dimension to my most familiar material. They reference a longstanding fascination I’ve had with industrial objects and their uncharacteristic allure. Their beauty is two fold: found in nature, as well as in the industrial.
"Metal and Skin 8" 18" x 18" x 13," acrylic and metal. 2017
"Metal and Skin 4" 48" x 36" x 18," metal and acrylic paint. 2017
"Marble and Skin 7" 8" x 12" x 8.5," marble and acrylic paint. 2017
"Where many contemporary artists strive to land upon a particular aesthetic as a means of self-branding, Yanko continually pushes into uncharted terrain while never abandoning color, movement, form, and texture. In a highly political age when most artists, imprisoned in the present, are looking backward into the wake of Earthly history, Yanko, an 'evolutionary,' forges forward." — Kurt McVey, Freelance Journalist.
McVey has contributed to numerous publications. To name a few: The New York Times, ArtNet News, and Whitehot Magazine.
"Metal and Skin 2" 72" x 24" x 24," metal and acrylic paint. March 2017
"Marble and Skin 2" 3" x 18" x 7," marble and acrylic paint. 2017
"Metal and Skin 1" 18" x 24" x 24," metal and acrylic paint. 2017
"Metal and Skin 3" 36" x 30" x 24," metal and acrylic paint. 2017
"East 3rd" 12" x 6" x 12," acrylic, concrete, metal, and chalk. 2017
Shifting Framework is about moving from a place of confinement to release. The blue metal — pieces of a re-purposed door frame — comes from a Miami-based metal yard. It's been reworked such that two shelves now support the skin that lay within it. Serving as the foundation for a new structure, the door frame repositions the derelict as something useful, engaging, and grounding. This composition, comprised of something that was at the end of its supposed life, is actually at its outset. In its most vulnerable state, it takes on an authentic existence. The piece is suspended from the ceiling using a 1/4 inch wire. Its free-floating form allows for the paint to pour onto the floor and spread as it will.
"Shifting Framework" 72" x 24" x 36," metal and acrylic. March 2017
Kennedy Yanko (b. 1988, St. Louis, MO) is a sculptor whose practice is built upon paradox. She understands that one’s perceptions are often in conflict with each other, and she uses this tug and pull to drive her work. By moving her body to shape paintings on rubber “canvases,” Yanko pushes the boundaries of her pieces, or “skins,” to alter the paint’s natural dispersal. This physical interaction with rubber heightened her desire to meaningfully come into contact with other material, and has most recently prompted her investigation into metal-based work. Yanko appreciates the properties of metal for their physical and liminal traits. She interacts with this medium similarly to how she maneuvers when creating her paint “skins.” But with metal, she examines the history more closely. In unearthing their stories, unique psychologies emerge, and she’s able to better understand them in juxtaposition to other elements — natural and manufactured. Learning more about the past of her materials has encouraged Yanko to re-purpose metal and change our experiences with it by altering the way it participates in a space.
Photo by Jorge Quinteros
"Marble and Skin 1" 12" x 18" x 12," marble and acrylic paint. 2017