Devin Kenny

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.

Artist CV
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Featured Work

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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

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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

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Bam Bam - Exclusive Drip (special thanks to A1 Prod. and Dugood Press), 2019, modified anti-suicide smock

A “turtle suit” or “bam bam”, commonly used in US prisons for people placed in solitary confinement is modified into a nonbinary streetwear garment, complete with pockets for tablet, cellular phone, and writing implements.

photo by Matthew Septimus courtesy of MoMA PS1

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What Would UPSKI think?, 2018, Bitmain antminer s7 batch 19, Hash Rate: 4.73 TH/s +5%, Power Consumption: 1293W +10%, Power Efficiency: 0.25 W/GH +10%, Requires 10x6 pin PCI-E connectors, 1 GHz, 512 MB RAM, 512 MB Hard Drive

photo courtesy of Artists Space

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Revenge Body Politics, 2018, Performance Essay, sound, video, performed at Goethe Institut New York, NY

Using a combination of electronic music, live vocals, and archival footage, Devin Kenny explores the idea of the Black subject as defined by US legal structures historically, and draws parallels between calls for reparations in the US context with those in Namibia against the German government, especially by the Herero and Nama people. photo by Aaron Rhodan

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DJ Kay Slay vs DJ Raedawn Vol. 2, 2018-2019, Found object assemblages in silicone Courtesy the artist Kenny collected flowering and non-flowering weeds, along with intentionally planted decorative flora, from office buildings, museums, bars, condos, sidewalks and construction sites in the Third Ward and Montrose neighborhoods of Houston.

photo by Matthew Septimus courtesy of MoMA PS1

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More or Less, 2015, Single channel video, color and sound 3 min 52 sec. Cinematography by Jarrod Turner

Kenny created more or less while living in the Ocean Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, where he occupied a basement storage room that had been repurposed as a bedroom. The work consists of Kenny attempting to move through the room without triggering a motion-activated light. photo courtesy of Artists Space