Chinvitation

Whenever I see a pro athlete I admire I always seem to turn back into a 6 year old dorky fan. (Well, whenever I see someone who's a pro at anything really!)

Here's a photo from February when I very excitedly got to meet the great bulldogs captain Bob Murphy, who just this weekend played his last game of AFL football. 

Bob Murphy is a pretty special footballer for a lot of reasons, not least of which being the insightful, romantic and funny column he regularly wrote for The Age newspaper during his career, often reflecting on the game of football he'd played just a couple of days earlier.

These pieces were later compiled into a book called "Murphy's Lore", which as a little tribute I made a ceramic replica of, and then amazingly Bob was kind enough to autograph.

My sculpture of the bulldogs book is included amongst other new dog themed work in the exhibition Every Dog Has It's Day, on now until September 17 at the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre. So if you're in Sydney then please go sniff it out dog gone it!

(Quick drawing done while watching Collingwood defeat the Bulldogs in the AFL Womens League.)

Also, another thing on if you're in Sydney, I have a painting in the upcoming Firstdraft fundraiser auction that's on tomorrow night, (Friday September 1st), from 6-9pm!

 

To save me from having to write out the names of all the other artists who have donated work to the fundraiser, here's a flyer with the full list;

Firstdraft is a fantastic artist run gallery in Sydney and all the money raised from this fundraiser goes towards keeping the gallery rent free for all next years exhibiting artists. 

My piece you can bid on is this acrylic on canvas painting, titled 'Chinspiration'.

Chinspiration. Acrylic on canvas. 30 x 40cm. 2017

So yeah, thanks heaps for reading, and if you're chin Sydney tomorrow then you are very much chinvited to come bid on an artwork and at the same time help out a great gallery, it's a chin-chin situation!

You ant seen nothing yet

Hey, I've got a couple of little things, (a ceramic sculpture and a book of my drawings), featured in an exhibition called "Self-Made: Zines and Artist Books", curated by Monica Syrette, that's open now until November 12 at the State Library of Victoria! 

So if ever you find yourself checking out books from the library in the next couple of months please also check out this show!

In more super exciting news, my ceramic sculpture "Ken Donut" has been selected as a finalist in the 2017 Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize!

"Ken Donut" is the latest in a series that pays tribute to some of the contemporary Australian artists I admire, sprinkled with playfulnesss and iced so thick with love you’ll have to brush your teeth after looking at it. 

The 2017 Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize is held at the Woollahra Council Chambers in Sydney and opens on October 13th. In the meantime though I've got work in three group exhibitions that are on right now-

The group show I'm in at Lamington Drive in Collingwood, (curated by Jane Sawyer and Shena Jamieson), is still on until August 19.  

The group show I'm in at True Estate in Brunswick, (curated by Beau Emmett and Elvis Richardson) is still on until September 4.  

And if you're in Sydney, the group show I'm in at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, (curated by Sophia Cai and Kathleen Linn), is still on until September 17.

I think they're all really special and unique group shows so hopefully you get a chance to see some of them if you haven't already, but either way thanks heaps for reading, hope you have a nice weekend and to finish up this blog, here's five drawings from the last couple of weeks...

"Sometimes a little hug can be a big ant-idote"

"Here's a drawing I did of the movie poster for Antz, except I very cleverly drew the characters wearing pants and added a P to the title."

"Huge congrats to Mitch Cairns for his beautiful Archibald prize winning painting. And just for fun, here's a portrait I just did of John Olsen"

'Mirage Equality"

If you're in Australia please make sure that your electoral address is up to date. As someone who's moved homes in the last 12 months I just did it myself and it seriously only takes a couple of minutes. The fact we don't have marriage equality in Australia is cruel and embarrassing to say the least, and even though the proposed plebiscite also seems cruel and embarrassing, voting yes could hopefully help make a difference. So yeah, click here for the link if you need to update your electoral postal details.

"Maybe if I stare at the door long enough someone will open it."

A slipper the tounge

#1 Hot Tip For Staying Warm This Winter
If you're in Melbourne then drop by the Queen Victoria Market, they have heaps of good quality slippers for only $25. 

#2 Hot Tip For Staying Warm This Winter

Before you go to sleep, take your new slippers and slip them onto the paws of the nearest sleeping cat. Now all you have to do is wake up earlier than the cat and you can start your day off right wearing some toasty warm slippaws.

Be warned though, the temptation will be to take this a step further and also warm up your hat and mug handle.

But enough about Melbourne and cats, let's talk about Sydney and dogs, because my number 3 hot tip for staying warm this winter is to please check out this group exhibition I've got work in called "Every dog will have Its Day", curated by Sophia Cai and Kathleen Linn and presented at the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre.

The show runs until September 17 and features work by ten Australia based artists; Abdul-Rahman Abdullah (WA), Dion Beasley (NT), David Capra (NSW), Anastasia Klose (NSW), Noel McKenna (NSW), Clare Peake (WA), Danielle Reynolds (VIC), Adrian Stojkovich (VIC) Natalie Thomas (VIC), and me (hello).

For the show I made three new dog themed pieces, one of which being a ceramic hotdog. Here's the claydog in progress.

How the sausage is made.

And here it is looking seedy and saucy, hanging on the gallery wall.

Hotdog. Acrylic on ceramic. 10 x 10 x 28cm. 2017.

In more exciting exhibition news; I've actually got work in 4 other group shows that you're very much invited to please check out...

First up, "You're my Number One" is still on at Firstdraft gallery in Sydney and finishes this Friday. The curator of the exhibition Talia Smith is giving a floor talk tomorrow evening (Thursday 27th) at 6pm so you should totally drop by for that if you can.

Next up I'm in the first group show at True Estate gallery at 134 Lygon Street. The show's called Open House, and curated by Beau Emmet and Elvis Richardson. The opening is this Tuesday, August 1st and then running until September 4th. The show's about what made us the artists we are today, and for this show I'm really excited to be exhibiting a drawing I made way back in 1998 when I was in grade four.

Here's the flyer with the complete artist list, should be rad hope you can check it out.

Thirdly, I'm in a show at Lamington Drive gallery, (52 Budd Street in Collingwood). The opening is next Wednesday, August 2nd, from 6-9pm, and it then runs until Saturday August 19. Also exhibiting in this show is Susan Robey, Madeleine Thornton-Smith, Tai Snaith, Andrei Davidov, Mechelle Bounpraseuth and Dawn Vachon. 

The exhibition is basically a hot pot of local artists who sometimes work with ceramics, and it's called "Cooked".

And last but not least I've got a new sculpture and some of my self published books in an exhibition called "Self Made; Zines and Artist Books" at the State Library of Victoria. 

The exhibition is curated by Monica Syrette and runs from Friday August 11 all the way until Sunday November 12th. For more details about this one just click here. 

And so yeah, hopefully you get a chance to slip on your slippers and check out one or maybe even all five of the exhibitions I've just mentioned, and if you'd like any more info on any of them definitely don't hesitate to send me an email or to shout at me from across the street. 

Most importantly though thanks heaps for reading, hope you're having a nice week, and just for fun here's a drawing I did of two puppies that I saw today.

Two dogs, (me before and after my morning coffee). Acrylic on 225gsm paper. 21 x 29.5cm. 2017

Murals Wedding

Hello, hello!

why did I write hello twice? Because I have two things to share!

first up, if you're in Sydney, (or going to be in Sydney at some point this month), I've got a new series of work in a group exhibition that opens tonight, 6-8pm, at Firstdraft gallery. 

The show runs until July 28 and has been expertly curated by Talia Smith. The show's called "You're My Number One" and basically it's a collection of works that play around with celebrity, fandom and popular culture, with humour and heart, bringing together artists from Thailand and New Zealand as well as Australia. 

The complete list of artists in the show is Zoe Wong, Daniel Mudie Cunningham, d.a.n.c.e art club, Janet Lilo, Natasha Matila-Smith, Marc Etherington, Low Cost Cosplay Group, Raquel Caballero, and me.

Click here for a link to the website Concrete Jungle where they have a list of "ten shows in Sydney this month that will drag you in from the cold", because in awesome news; this exhibition was put at number 3 on the list!... (ha, although surely they should've put a show with the title "You're my number One" in at their number 1.)

Ha, but so ok, that was the first thing, really hope you get a chance to see this show. The second thing I wanted to quickly share is here's a few photos of a mural I've just painted in a new carpark they're building at the Clayton campus of Monash Uni. The mural's called "Murals Wedding" and it's made up of forty something different paintings all mingling together by the elevators. 

A huge thanks to the team at MUMA (the Monash University Museum of Art) for this incredible opportunity, it was so much fun and I loved getting to paint on this scale. 

And so yeah, the carpark is meant to open in a couple of weeks and the mural will be there permanently so really hope you get a chance to see it, and really hope you like it!

And in the meantime thanks heaps for reading, hope you're having a nice day and if you're in Sydney hopefully see you tonight at Firstdraft!

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.