The St. Pete Arts Alliance is proud to present surrealist artist, Steven Kenny as the third speaker in the Third Thursday Morning Art Leadership Forum on October 17, 2019.
Starting as a commercial graphic illustrator and creating a successful 35+ year painting career, Kenny will discuss his lessons learned in marketing and self-promotion that led the U.S. Mint to ask him to submit designs that could be used on U.S. coins.
Kenny will cover topics such as maintaining customer relationships, negotiating, maintaining quality, handling social media, seeking out opportunities, building bridges and not burning them, taking risks, being patient, not taking anything personally and more.
While visiting his upstairs studio in St Pete, interviewer Soleil Simone mused “if walls could talk,” they would speak volumes about the surreal yet photorealistic quality of Kenny’s paintings, whose objects of interest seem almost “pinch-able”, “touch-able”, “stroke-able,” as in the downy feathers of a flamingo, or the bare torso of a naked body reaching for a branch.
The soft lighting and warm ambiance in Kenny’s paintings reveal humans surrounded by beautiful landscapes and creature companions, with an almost Biblical reference. The classical echoes in the form of the subjects combine with the dreamlike elements of surrealist style.
The key behind all of Kenny’s paintings is a metaphorical question, asking the viewer to decipher the hidden meaning behind the composition, something the artist is trying to convey without words.
“Kenny’s portraiture and figure paintings form a vibrant commentary on the nature of balance, sexuality and that fickle concept: transcendence.”
Free for St. Pete Arts Alliance Arts Business Partner Members. (Email tracy@stpeteartsalliance.org to receive the member code). $10 for general public.