Biography
Devin Kenny’s art practice includes painting, sculpture, photography, video, performance, music, digital art, writing, curatorial projects and more. Kenny’s works in one-off pieces as well as series with special attention given to the ephemeral, especially in urban centers. Their current work looks at cultures of the African Diaspora impacted by chattel slavery in relationship to network culture and online communities. Kenny also has a special interest in pop culture and subcultures of the past and present. With the bulk of their youth spent in Chicago and New York City, as an adult, Kenny’s practice has continued to Los Angeles, Houston, Mexico City, Amsterdam, Berlin, and the UK, oftentimes using specific elements of the cultural environment as a spark for curiosity and exploration. Cross-cultural and resourceful, Kenny's intuitive and research-responsive art looks at the subversive possibilities of repurposing while exhibiting flashes of the heartfelt, the humorous, and the critical.
Kenny is an alum of the Whitney Independent Study Program and the MFAH Core Program Houston,
Notable Teaching Experience
Rutgers University (New Jersey)
Parsons School of Design (New York)
Yale University Visiting Critic (New Haven)
Notable Solo Exhibitions
rootkits footwork at MoMA PS1 (New York, 2019)
Ongoing, individual adaptability at Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, 2022)
revenge body politics (the repo man sings for you, the speaking implement reads for filth) at ludlow38 (New York, 2018)
Wrong Window at Aran Cravey Gallery (Los Angeles, 2014)
Notable Group Exhibitions
Shake-up Environment [tart vienna] curated by Pia-Marie Remmers at Galerie Thomas (Wien, 2023)
The Wig at Bonner Kunstverein (Bonn, 2021)
PRISMS curated by Mak Kern and Cassie Riger Fellows Of Contemporary Art Lab (Los Angeles, 2018)
Glasgow International Biennial curated by Naomi Pearce at the Glue Factory Glasgow (Glasgow, 2016)
Hotel Theory curated by Sohrab Mohebbi and Ruth Estévez at REDCAT (Los Angeles, 2015)
Press
They have been featured in BOMB Magazine, Artnews, Los Angeles Times, Dazed and Vice.
Featured Work
tellem (fairplay), 2019, Linux gaming console by Anbernic with modified photodome lapel pin Courtesy the artist This Linux-based video game console emulates vintage gaming systems from years past. The console comes preloaded with hundreds of vintage games, most of which are no longer available in the consumer market. In 2018, the rapper Soulja Boy rebranded this console as “Souljagame” and offered it for sale on his website. Soulja Boy subsequently faced legal action once it became apparent that the games preloaded on the console were in fact the unlicensed intellectual property of companies like Sega and Nintendo. Visitors are invited to play any of the games available on the console. Guidelines: 1. The console may be played by one or two visitors for any length of time while the gallery is open. 2. To return to the game selection menu, press the “Start” and “Select” buttons at the same time. 3. Please use care when handling the controllers and do not touch the console itself.
photo by Matthew Septimus courtesy of MoMA PS1