Garry Neill Kennedy
Four Seasons on Four Shouting Heads, Apr 6 – May 11, 2004

Garry Neill Kennedy is opening Canada’s new space at 55 Chrystie Street with 4 Seasons on 4 suits on 4 Shouting Heads.

In 1967 Garry Neill Kennedy turned the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design into one of 4 major international centers for Conceptual Art in North America. He reestablished the school which had been a provincial art college into a meeting place for the best contemporary Conceptual Artists. In his time there the college hosted a litany of singularly significant Conceptual art events.

The college hosted an unparalleled visiting artist program which included everyone from Vito Acconcci and Robert Smithson to Joseph Beuys and James Lee Byars. Its faculty included many of these artists, and offered a revolutionary art education. It was the site for many of Dan Graham’s early performances, and David Askevold’s project Kaspar Koenig to publish works like Michael Snow’s Cover to Cover, and the Complete Writings of Donald Judd.

Since the 1960’s Garry Kennedy has produced extraordinary conceptual works which have shown internationally and received their due acknowledgment as pioneering Conceptualism. His work consistently has provided staggering political commentary with a beautiful visuality. He has a remarkably articulate and clear practice, and makes compelling progress in the development of Conceptualism. His accomplishments are too many to list but include critical siting in Artforum, and Lucy Lippard’s Six Years: the Dematerialization of the Art Object, and a recent one man show at Portikus in Germany, as well as currently touring retrospective which began at the National Gallery of Canada.

His work for Canada 4 Seasons on 4 Suits on 4 Shouting Heads is comprised of large paintings using a systematic palette on bolts of pin stripe fabric, that are the dimensions necessary for making 4 suits, and a set ofprints, which are the stencils used for a signature set of cartoons which show bosses yelling at their employees. This work is part of a long project which investigates the operations of bureaucratic systems.

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