UPCOMING EVENTS
PRESS
Atelier Kharis Kennedy
TRENDBEHEER, 11 JUNE, 2018
Kharis Kennedy is a painter and performance artist who sees the body and objects as archives of knowledge and consciousness. She uses picturesque metaphysics and intuitive images to reveal inner truths. In her work we see a number of recurring topics: animals that reflect the spirit of their owners…
Amulets Ethereal at Barney Savage
ART SPIEL, 15 MAY, 2018
“Amulets Ethereal,” the thought provoking group exhibition curated by Jenny Mushkin Goldman at Barney Savage features works by Kharis Kennedy, Adam Krueger & Tableaux Vivants, Victoria Manganiello & Julian Goldman, Qinza Najm, Cheryl R. Riley, and Ashley Zelinskie…
“Hearts and Bones” Art100 New York
SCULPTURE, DEC 2017
Sometimes the intentions of artists do not fit the categories assigned to their mediums. There can be cross-overs between sculpture and painting, for instance, in which the connecting link is about content rather than form. Such was the case with “Hearts and Bones,” a show that featured installation and drawings by Judy Pfaff and paintings by Kharis Kennedy.
Mashonda Tifrere’s New Group Show Tells Women: ‘You Can Be a King’
BEDFORD + BOWERY, 12 OCT 2017
“Society has it that women are queens and princesses. We can’t go for
being a king because that’s just too high up.” She goes on to say, “It’s going beyond society’s labels and standing firmly in your womanhood, your femininity and just being more than what you were ever expected or taught to be. You can be a king.”
“KING WOMAN” OPENS AT PEN & BRUSH OCTOBER 12TH
HUFFINGTON POST, 7 OCT 2017
I had a sneak peek at Pen & Brush’s new show curated by Mashonda Tifrere and it is marvelous. “King Woman” is a moniker a random admirer dubbed Mashonda for the Renaissance woman she is and so she lends her nom de guerre to this survey of the female aura in all its dynamic and diverse glory…
Art100 Brings To NYC A Strong Showing Of Female and Eastern Artists
ART REPORT, 29 MAY 2017
With female artists time and time again being overlooked and overshadowed, it’s always refreshing to walk into a space where women, put simply, kick ass. The work of both Judy Pfaff and Kharis Kennedy instantly draws you in, an effect achieved by very different means. In fact, at first glance, one may not see the similarities or hear the strong conversation between the two artists’ works, as they explore different mediums and aesthetic characteristics, but that is one of the exhibition’s strongest suits: it actually makes you think…
HEARTS AND BONES at ART 100
HUFFINGTON POST, 18 MAY 2017
“Hearts and Bones,” featuring the work of whimsical, prolific and incandescent installation artist Judy Pfaff and painter Kharis Kennedy is a good choice for a Chelsea art undertaking. You won’t be disappointed as these wonderful works…
“Hearts and Bones” & “Assembly Line”
SinoVision, 25 APRIL 2017
Art 100 gallery’s spring exhibition “Hearts and Bones” presents two artists who fully occupy their work with vital presence and vision: Judy Pfaff and Kharis Kennedy…
Performance Art Series in St. Croix, Take 5, Calls For Love and Rebellion
WHITEHOT MAGAZINE, 20 JAN 2017
I skipped Art Basel Miami Beach this year, not as some form of pseudo, self aggrandizing art world protest or because I was too busy in New York or couldn’t afford it, but because I couldn’t really think of a good reason to be there. I’m not a collector of any significance, the parties didn’t seem too intriguing (Madonna?), and nothing really seemed worth covering in a manner that required real indepth analysis.
Though anyone who feels a part of this whole art world thing may feel a good pilgrim’s responsibility to attend, this begins to fade after you’ve paid your Basel dues, so to speak…
Looking Back on Take Five
SURFACE, 16 JAN 2017
Last month, in the days following Art Basel Miami Beach, the inaugural edition of Take Five played out over five days in St. Croix in the Virgin Islands. The location, once a hub of the slave trade, was appropriate, as the gathering aimed to commemorate the African diaspora. All too often, slavery is spoken of nonchalantly as a dark truth in American history. The event asked viewers to remember the human experience of slavery through powerful visual art and performances.
Organized by New York-based art advisor and curator Alaina Simone, Take Five featured New York-based artists David Antonio Cruz and Rashaad Newsome; local artists Oceana James, Kharis Kennedy, and La Vaughn Belle; and Copenhagen-based artist Jeannette Ehlers…
A Post Basel Retreat Brought Performance Art to St Croix
CREATORS, 18 DEC 2016
Billed as a “Post Art Basel Miami Beach Art World Retreat,” the inaugural Caribbean performance series, Take Five, took place roughly 11,000 miles southeast of Miami Beach, on the US Virgin Island of St. Croix. The week-long series featured performances by artists Rashaad Newsome, Oceana James, David Antonio Cruz, Jeanette Ehlers, studio visits with local artists, and the opening of Kharis Kennedy’s Touch Has Memory, a solo exhibition of painting and performance at The Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts…
Move over Miami, Take5 is coming trough!
THE HUFFINGTON POST, 3 DEC 2016
As Art Basel begins to roll out and art lovers from around the globe take their vitamins for the onslaught of art fabulous creations and activities, there are a stealthy few who will not end their efforts there but extend their inspiration to St Croix for a relaxing, take it all in time of enlightenment. Art professional and producer Alaina Simone put together a bevy of talent who will bring diverse perspectives to the historically complex island, which was inhabited by numerous foreign groups over the course of history and contained over 20,000 slaves.
How wonderful that Simone and her colleagues have remembered not to forget but enliven this beautiful place, curated by Monica Marin and Carla Acevedo with art luminaries like Rashaad Newsome, David Antonio Cruz, Kharis Kennedy, La Vaughn Belle, Oceana James with a video screening by Jeannette Ehler for this special event which will take place from December 4-8 right after Basel…
TAKE FIVE IN ST. CROIX: A Survey of Race, Identity, Gender and Power
REPEATING ISLANDS, 7 NOV 2016
TAKE FIVE IN ST. CROIX is a survey of race, identity, gender and power in the United States Virgin Islands through an annual performance and exhibition series in site-specific historical locations: University of the Virgin Islands, Caribbean Cultural Center for the Arts, Whim Museum, Fort Frederik, and Fort Christiansted. This event takes place on December 4-8, 2016.
Featuring David Antonio Cruz, Rashaad Newsome, Kharis Kennedy, La Vaughn Belle, and Oceana James. Site-Specific Art Installations & Performances: Curatorial thesis explores the intersections of race, power, gender and identity politics related specifically to Caribbean history spread over various locations on the island of St. Croix, US Virgin Islands.
Engage with the Community & Learn about St. Croix History: The aim of this project is to establish an annual retreat to St. Croix after Art Basel Miami Beach, attracting a broad international audience engaging with the island’s people and shared histories with the U.S., Africa and Europe through the lens of visual and performance platforms…
Save the Date. Join us for “Take Five” in St. Croix on Sunday December 4th – Thursday December 8th
CARTWHEEL ART, 1 NOV 2016
Immediately following Art Basel Miami Beach 2016, artists Rashaad Newsome, David Antonio Cruz, Kharis Kennedy, La Vaughn Belle, and Oceana James will debut a dynamic series of performances and visual art as part of an inaugural program series called Take Five.
This program series, happening in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands from December 4-8, 2016, is curated by Monica Marin and Carla Acevedo-Yates, and presented by Alaina Simone Enterprises. Cultural partners include the Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts (CMCArts), Virgin Islands Caribbean Cultural Center, University of the Virgin Islands, and Crucian Heritage & Nature Tourism (CHANT)…
A New Art Retreat Celebrating the African Diaspora Kicks Off in St. Croix December 3-8
HYPERALLERGIC, 1 NOV 2016
Take Five is a celebration and exploration of shared histories of territories within the African Diaspora through the lens of personal narratives of “otherness” at the intersection of race, gender, and sexuality.
This winter, directly following Art Basel Miami Beach, artists Rashaad Newsome, David Antonio Cruz, Kharis Kennedy, La Vaughn Belle, and Oceana James will debut a dynamic series of performances and visual art as part of an inaugural art world retreat taking place in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, from December 3 to 8, 2016. Take Five is curated by Monica Marin and Carla Acevedo-Yates, and is presented by Alaina Simone Enterprises…
Paintings Inspired by the Real Housewives and ‘Comfort Creatures’ coming to Greenpoint
BEDFORD + BOWERY, 13 NOV 2015
Kharis Kennedy will unveil a series of new paintings as part of her solo exhibition, Comfort Animals, at The Greenpoint Gallery. Though Kennedy has been living in St. Croix for the last five years, her work is still imbued with trappings of high-society life and obsessive consumerism she picked up on while living in New York City. But a midnight-hued vision of her new home in the tropics is slowly beginning to take over…
The Man I Wish I Was
KHARIS KENNEDY, 31 JAN 2010
In keeping with the feminist tradition of irreverent internal-critique and self-vigilance the intent of The Man I Wish I Was is to question how gender perception relates to personal identity. The exhibition seeks to reevaluate the traditional feminist strategy of defining identity as something encountered in the first person and to question the roles that an individual might embody beyond those prescribed by social and genetic dictates. The exhibition asks the question: Have we happily reached a post-gender moment, a moment where gender is no longer a relevant signifier and we can
comfortably slip into daddy’s shoes?
The Man I Wish I Was – The Talkies Edition
KHARIS KENNEDY, 27 JAN 2010
On Wednesday, January 27th at 6pm ARTBOOK in conjunction with A.I.R. Gallery will hold a special
film screening at X-initiative. The event is open to the public and will include a roundtable discussion with
the artists following the screening. The films to be screened augment the selections that comprise The
Man I Wish I Was, a month-long exhibit currently on display at A.I.R. Gallery through January 31st…
Scallywag Interview: The Man I Wish I Was
SCALLYWAG, 12 JAN 2010
Invited to come along last Thursday to Kharis Kennedy’s curated show – ‘The man I wish I was,’ at the A.I.R gallery in Brooklyn I went curious as to what the evening would possibly hold. All I knew was that the exhibit would be concentrating on feministic themes and the interpretation of gender in a society capitulated with myopic gender intonations…
What followed was one of the more lively and provocative exhibits we here at Scallywag and Vagabond have attended in a while. Having said that I returned home and set out to deliberate on some intelligent questions that hopefully would honor the clever and at times very humorous exhibit at hand.