Oh for Evans sake

Hey pal, happy new year! 

On new years eve I worked my job collecting shopping trolleys when I spotted a car that had a number plate I could really relate to;

Yes it's true; now that I live on the Northside, I cycle...

To the X-treme!!!

The bike was my Christmas present and it's so rad, I'd forgotten how much fun riding is. Now it's just a matter of time before I get car doored and I can really call myself a city kid.

The other present I got for Christmas was this thing called an Egg-Xite, used for cooking eggs in the microwave.

I'm not convinced about the Egg-Xite. For starters the pun in its name doesn't work; it should be spelt Egg-Cite.

One thing that really cracks me up about the Egg-Xite though is, well you know how some products have a thing on them that says "As seen on TV!" (which basically just means the company paid for an ad or an infomercial), well, the Egg-Xite doesn't even have that, it just says "TV".

Anyway I love the bike. My Dad got it from the Trash And Treasure market for $30, which means technically you might actually be better off stealing my bike-lock than my bike. But please, if you're gonna steal anything from me, take the Egg-Xite.

And so yeah, now that I own a bike I guess it was inevitable that I'd eventually bump into one of my peers who also owns a bike; the 2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans. 

Here's a photo taken by my studio mate Sophie, it's of me making a sculpture of Cadel Evans' new memoir. 

The photo also features Jason, a video artist I share the studio with, sneaking up behind me to re-enact that scene from the movie Ghost.

Jason told me that his good friend Mark is also a cyclist, and that a few years ago he and Mark were in an airport together in Dubai and they saw Cadel Evans. Apparently Mark asked Cadel for a photo but Cadel said sorry but no. 

Maybe Cadel was busy, or having a bad day, or who knows, there's a million good reasons Cadel might not have wanted a photo at that moment, maybe his tyres were flat and he'd forgot to pack his favourite pump, but whatever the case Mark was disappointed he didn't get a photo.

So I asked Jason to send me a photo of Mark and I'd see what I can do. Here's what Jason sent me.

My favourite thing about this photo is the awesome woman in the centre of it who's doing the robot. 

Working for a supermarket I see first hand that robots are taking away our jobs, so it's only fair that we fight back and take away their dance moves.

Anyway so I cropped the image and printed it out and then when I met Cadel I told him how Mark was a big fan and would seriously love a photo... 

and so yeah, here's a photo of Cadel and Mark.




A huge thank you to Cadel Evans for being a total superstar and playing along. Also a huge thank you to Giulia McGauran for being such a pro photographer and taking the photos, (and also a huge thank you to Giulia's Dad for lending me his cycling gear).

Cadel was also kind enough to sign not one but two ceramic sculptures I made of his new memoir.

The reason I made two sculptures of this book is so that one could go into my collection, (AKA sit on my bookshelf), and the other I was thinking could possibly go into a new exhibition I'm about to have that opens in Singapore this January 10th.



But so yeah, in really amazing news, in a few days I'm flying to Singapore for a solo show at Chan Hampe Gallery! The exhibition's titled 'She smiled at me', it's curated by Khai Hori and goes from Jan 10 until Feb 9. The opening starts at 10pm which is pretty different and makes me feel like a cool DJ. 

Here's a ceramic sculpture I made of one of the library books I've been reading in preparation for the trip:

Thanks a bunch to Channel News Asia for including me in the list of "5 unique tours to check out at Singapore Art Week 2017". You can read that by clicking anywhere on this sentence.

And so this feels like a surreal thing to say, but if you do happen to be in Singapore this month then please check out my show, and if you wanna meet up somewhere for a chili crab or a flat noodle then definitely let me know!

Anyway thanks heaps for reading, hope that you're having a very egg-Xiting holiday break, and I'm about to go break some eggs and microwave myself a very egg-Xiting dinner.

Somewhere over the rainbow lorikeet

Hey chirpy, here's a little drawing I made of a rainbow lorikeet.

Very eggcitingly, the drawing's been included in a big group show that's just opened at the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery. 

Here's another drawing I did, this one of an early bird catching a worm, being used to promote the exhibition on the back of a local newspaper lift out.

And so yeah, the show's called "Birds: Flight Paths in Australian Art" and it features heaps of eggcellent artists, including Arthur Bird

Lovers in a boat at Hastings. Arthur Boyd. 1955. Oil on perspex. 109.5 x 115cm. MPRG collection.

Albird Tucker

Faun attacked by parrot 3. Albert Tucker. 1968. Synthetic polymer paint, sand and wood on hardboard. Art Gallery of New South Wales

Louise Tweetver

Galah (Wild ribbons instead of sleep).  Louise Weever. 2007-2008. Hand crotched lambswool over taxidermied galah. grey boxwood, MDF. 52 x 20.2 x 32cm. Michael Buxton collection.

Hen Quilty

Beast. Ben Quilty. 2004. Oil on canvas. 120 x 140cm. Collection Dubbo Regional Gallery.

and Flyona Hall.

Pezoporus occidentalis / night parrot. Fiona Hall. 2009-2011. 100 x 45 x 45cm.

(As well as me; Chickenny Pitcluck.)

Here's the flyer for the exhibition that I just found in the current issue of Art Guide Australia. 

And so yeah, the eggsibition's on until Feb 12, pretty eggciting, hope you get a chance to chegg it out!

Oh and also, even more eggciting than having my drawing included in the show is that the gallery also commissioned me to make a colouring book, all about birds and my recent residency staying down in the Peninsula. The book is A4, 28 pages on nice paper, and available at the gallery for $10. (cheep, cheep, cheep!)

A huge thanks to Danny Lacy, Rowena Wiseman and everyone at the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery for hatching up this amazing opp-bird-tunity.

Here's the cover of the book;

In other news, the annual C3 gallery fundraiser exhibition has also just opened and is on until December 11. For all the details of how to see this great show and help out a great gallery, click here for a link to C3's facebook event.

Here's my little contribution to the fundraiser, a ceramic piece from 2012 titled It's no picnic.

And in other news, my last exhibition for 2016 is a fun little group show titled Small Art, opening tonight (December 8) at Mailbox Artspace on Flinders Lane. The show's curated by the super talented artist Danielle Hakim, and it features myself and five other artists from all over Australia, here's the flyer.

Small Art is on until January 28, for more details on the exhibition click here for a link to the facebook event. Or come along tonight, 6-8pm, for a free drink or two.

My little piece in the show is called Pushing the envelope, here's a little drawing I did to go along with it.

Acrylic on paper. 21 x 14cm. 2016.

And for a sneak peak of my work that's actually in the show, here's a little snail I'd like you to meet, he's made of ceramic and he's really come out of his shell. (Also pictured is a ceramic teaspoon, which isn't in the show I made that just for fun).

Another thing I wanna mention is that I got some good news the other day; my work in the McGivern Painting Prize, (which is a series of 25 ceramic shopping lists based on lists I found while working at Coles), just received the thousand buck peoples choice award! 

Apparently the gallery had over 400 votes and so I just wanna say a massive thanks to everyone who voted, (ha, particularly those who voted for my work), and also a massive thanks to Realm gallery. 

Here’s a photo from the opening of me standing by my work with two of my best buds; Chris and Nelson.

And finally, one last thing to mention today is that if you find yourself on the Upfield train line then be sure to look out the window when you're passing Gowrie station. For the past few weeks, (and continuing until December 15), I've been doing a project as part of the Moreart Festival where each week I put up a new A0 sized drawing in the window of the old ticket box, responding to the site.

A big thanks to Jane O'Neil, Dan Mitchell and all the fantastic people who helped organise such an awesome event to be a part of. And so yeah, hopefully you can be touched by some art as you touch on your myki.

Also, I didn't actually realise that this festival had awards but amazingly it turned out my work received one of them, not the main one, but still it got something, the Moreart Victrack Award, which is really cool. 

It's the kind of award where the prize is a fun commission job that I'll do next year with Morelands council, rather than the kind of award where the prize is a big ginormous Christmas ham, but obviously it still really meats a lot to me.

Photo credit- James Henry

And to finish up this post, just for a change, I thought I might share my very favourite song at the moment, which is Lady Devine by Alela Diane. 

Thanks heaps for reading, hope you're going really good, hope to see you soon, and in the meantime if ever you need a little break from anything and everything then turn up this song, close your eyes and fly somewhere special.

All the best, or should I say, all the nest, Kenny.

Up zits creek without a paddle pop

Hey, the other night I was driving home after another fun filled day at work collecting trolleys, when check out this very cool message that my workmate sent me.

So it turns out the specific Coles I work for has its own facebook page, and yeah, a customer was talking me up on it for being nice, (ha, and remember, the customer is always right.)

(It's the third comment down).

I remember on my first shift at Coles when one of the guys I work with asked the boss "How come we have to wear name a tag?" and the boss said "So that customers can compliment you more personally". To which my workmate replied "Get stuffed, it's just so that they can complain about us". Ha, but so there you go.

It's pretty amazing that a customer took time out of their day to write that. Thanks so much Kylie, I thought about your very nice comment all Saturday while I worked 8 hours to cover someones shift who'd apparently told the boss that he couldn't come in because he has a pimple on his leg and it hurts when he walks. 

So shout out to Big L, from all of us here at kennypittock.com we wish you a speedy recovery and we hope the pimple pops. 

...And changing the subject slightly from pimple pops to paddle pops, back in 2012 I made some ceramic Paddlepop ice-creams that were acquired by the Melbourne Uni Union Collection, and the reason I'm writing this little blog post is that the collection is now on display in the current exhibition on at George Paton Gallery. 

And so yeah, I just wanted to let you know that if you're around the Parkville campus tonight, (Thursday the 17th), between 5-7pm, come along for the closing celebration drinks. Here's the details;

Here's a sculpture from 2012 of a Rainbow Paddlepop in front of some rainbow oil.

Rainbow paddlepop. 2012

And here's some sculptures of Chocolate Paddlepops, also from 2012, in a fancy perspex box in the current George Paton exhibition, photographed by Alice Mathieu.

And so yeah, if you're free tonight then please bring your lovely manners and cheery personality, squeeze your pimples out and squeeze some more art into your life!

pop art

Leaving the nest

Hey there, good morning, here's three or four exciting things going on this week that you might hopefully be interested in.

First up, this weekend I've been invited to host not one, but two, still life drawing workshops.

So if you're in the mood to have a draw then come along to the MPavillion today, (Saturday October 22), from 2-4pm. For more details click here.

And then tomorrow, (Sunday October 23), from 10-11am, I'm hosting another drawing workshop in the Queen Vic Market, as part of the Melbourne Biennial Lab. For more details on that one click here.

Come to both! They're totally free and fun for people of all ages and skill levels. 

Am I qualified to teach still life drawing? Possibly not, but come watch me try! 

In other news, for the last two weeks I've been doing a residency with the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery. Basically the awesome team at the MPRG commissioned me to spend some time on the Peninsula to draw their native birdlife.

And so yeah, I'm no eggspert but I've really been getting in to the subtle art of birdwatching.

(Big thanks to Danny Lacy for the photo!)

My bird drawings will be turned into a colouring book, and in December this year the Mornington Gallery are having a big exhibition all about birds and my colouring book will be available at the show.

I'll talk more about the project soon but for now if you'd like more info on the bird show or my involvement in it, click here.

In the meantime, here's a drawing of an early bird about to catch a worm.

And in news that's not even slightly related to art, last Tuesday night I tried stand up comedy.

Ha, yep, there I am on stage at a comedy room in Fitzroy. A big thanks to my buddy Nelson for taking that photo from the front row.

I worked really hard on writing and rehearsing my little five minute set and it actually went surprisingly well. Ha, well that's what people told me at least, I recorded it but am too afraid to listen back. I don't know if I'll ever do it again, I think it's probably just something I wanted to try once, but yeah it was definitely a really fun way to scare myself. 

Speaking of intimidating moments, last week I got to meet one of my very favourite comedians; Judith Lucy! As well as being a hilarious comic Judith Lucy is also a hilarious author, and so naturally I made a ceramic sculpture of her book. And she was super wonderful and friendly and kind enough to sign it for me. 

(Big thanks to Amaya Sundae for this photo!)

And speaking of books, I reckon my life is officially at the beginning of a new chapter. This morning at 7am I went to the gym...

Not for a work out though of course, no way, I went there to cancel my membership.

And the reason I quit my gym, (aside from laziness and not being able to afford it), is that I'm moving to the city!

Now I know what you're thinking; "Kenny, don't you think 28 is way too young to be moving out of home?!" But it's ok, I'm ready. 

Trying to find a sharehouse was pretty weird though; driving all over the place, getting tours of strangers homes while they're eating dinner, and feeling like you're on blind dates with entire households. Until finally I hit the jackpot, I found a really amazing place with really amazing people, and I move in next week. Yay! I'm actually really excited.

But ok, hopefully things are exciting for you too. And if you're looking for a little more excitement then for flocks sake come do some still life drawing with me today and tomorrow!

Thanks heaps for reading and I hope your weekend is full of many flights of fancy.

Don't give up your day jobs

Hey, I recently started two new jobs. 

The first of my two new jobs, which I actually started back in May, is 2 days a week of shopping trolley collection. Very glamourous.

You know how when you go to a supermarket and you see all the trolleys loitering around the carpark, and you think to yourself, "Gee, I wish I could be the person out there in the rain, strapping those trolleys into 50 meter trains and pushing them uphill back into the shops"? 

Well, you are looking at the guy who landed that sweet job.

At first I offered to collect the trolleys voluntarily, you know, just for the experience and exposure, but the supermarket are actually paying me to do it!

Joking aside though I do really love this job. (And I'm not just saying that in case someone from the company reads this!) 

One cool thing about collecting trolleys is you get to use the secret corridors of the shopping centre. 

When I went to Italy I was amazed to learn about the Medici Family; a bunch of rich murderers who in 1565 controlled Florence and built secret corridors all over the city. Apparently the Medici's had to use secret corridors because if they walked amongst the public they definitely would've been assassinated. 

So it's comforting to know that my job has the same level of safety from assassination as the 16th century mafia.

I think the only real difference between the Medici secret corridors and the ones that I use is that the Medici corridors were filled with fancy self portraits

unlike the ones I use, which look like this.

But if the only thing separating me from living the life of a Medici is sticking a self portrait on the wall, then that's an easy fix. 

So this morning before my shift I painted this self portrait.

And then, after my shift, I duct back into the corridor and duct taped it up.

Here's a photo of it with my workmate, who's very generously pretending to be impressed.

And so yeah, collecting shopping trolleys is obviously my dream job, I work really hard at it and I think I'm pretty good at it. But I'm also realistic; I know that collecting trolleys is super competitive, and it's a tough industry to make it in. Which is why, to give my parents some peace of mind, I did the smart thing first and I got my fine arts degree, this way if collecting trolleys doesn't work out at least I'll always have the art to fall back on.

Speaking of art, here's four places you can find some of my work at the moment, please check them out if you can!;

1. If you're in Brisbane, I've got a large new sculpture and some drawings in The Churchie exhibition, held at the awesome QUT Museum. The show's on now, and runs until November 13. 

3. If you're in Tasmania, I've got a big new painting on canvas in the Bruny Island Art Prize, on now and running until October 4. 

2. If you're in the south east suburbs of Victoria, I've got a new series of 25 ceramic sculptures in the McGivern TEXT exhibition. It's at Realm Gallery in Ringwood, on now, and running until November 20. 

4. And if you're in Melbourne, I've got a new sculpture, a painting and a wall piece in the current group show on at Lon Gallery. On now and running until October 15. The show has the theme of nudity in art, so if you're around Collingwood go have a perve. (Ha, but I don't wanna get your hopes up, you won't see me naked in the show!) Here's a flyer with all the info.

But if you can't make it to any of those exhibitions you can always just come find me at the supermarket. 

A big thanks to Zoe Mullins for helping take some of the photos in this post. Oh and hey, I nearly forgot; at the beginning of this post I mentioned that I've recently started two new jobs, but so far I've only talked about the shopping trolley job. 

Well, the second of the new jobs that I've recently started is this one, staring Ashton Kutcher.

So far I'm about halfway through the movie and to be honest I don't really wanna keep watching, but if there's one thing you should know about me it's that I always see my Jobs through to the end.