193 x 91.4 x 22.9 cm
For his first solo exhibition at C24 Gallery, Coby Kennedy presents a striking new body of work using bullet proof Kevlar, stretched and mounted as canvases, some set in roughly soldered metal frames. The industrial styled, abstract works suggest portals or relics from another age, embodying the artist's exploration of diasporic power and perseverance as a Black American, intensified by the life changing experience of recently becoming a parent to two young girls. The function of Kevlar as a medium of protection symbolizes a shield against an increasingly dystopian environment, while layers of oxidized rust, resin and other symbolic markings provide clues referencing both past and future realities of resistance and survival.
Kennedy channels the dynamics of bringing protection to his family and providing them with the tools for survival into near mythological depictions of his daughters in several figurative works inspired by their wild innocence. Their hair is braided up into powerful horns by the hands of ancestors reaching into the picture frame. Their depictions reference the eternal forces of nature and youth, their energy driving an ongoing engagement with powers of oppression.
