Kennedy Yanko
Individual Works
b. 1988, USA, Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY
Kennedy Yanko is a sculptor whose practice is built upon paradox. Her work addresses how human perception and societal expectation are often in conflict with each other. In constructing her work, Yanko relies upon intuitive systems, often involving physically rigorous methods. Her current work explores bodily and human relationships to industrial material—to substances derived from organic compounds.
This investigation questions human ties between the internal and manufactured world. Yanko pulls metal and other materials such as marble from salvage yards, rerouting the discarded material’s life cycle. These objects are viewed as osmotic, moving away from the realm of man-made, returning to an inherent existence where their compositions may be
redefined.
Yanko employs a call-and-response between the visible histories of these objects and her body’s ability to reposition the materials.
Her sculptural work challenges the objects’ given identities through the process of recontextualization, changing the way they present to the world (manipulating their presence and changing the platform by which they are
perceived).
Movements of the artist’s body are integral to the creation of the paint skins, and directly relate to the dispersive nature of the fluid medium. Color is treated as a material, as the liquid paint is poured, and pigments combined. Responding to Yanko’s other elements, the malleable skins are folded and slumped to alter the existing structure.
The married metal and skin create a polyphonic discourse emphasizing a synergetic material connection. This visceral interaction with latex paint has inspired Yanko to meaningfully combine other materials into her practice, and has prompted her to delve into metal-based work.
Kennedy Yanko CV
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019
Before Words, Urban Institute of Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids MI, 2019
HANNAH, Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago IL, 2019
HIGHLY WORKED, Denny Dimin Gallery, New York NY, 2019
2018
Chasing Time, Leyendecker Gallery, Tenerife Canary Islands
2012
Permutation, The Paragon Theatre, St. Louis MO
2010
Paroxysm, Art Monster, St. Louis MO
2009
Wu-Wei, Abstrakt Gallery, St. Louis MO
2008
Untitled,The Nash Hotel, Miami Beach FL
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019
EXPO Chicago, Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago IL
2018
Harlem Perspectives, FACTION Arts Projects, New York NY
Cry of Victory, Short Walks to Freedom, Projects + Gallery, St. Louis MO,
PARALLELS AND PERIPHERIES, ArtCenter South Florida, Miami FL
EXPO Chicago, Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago IL
EXPO Chicago, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, Chicago IL
Alchemy, BRIC Arts Media, Brooklyn NY, 2018
The Barn Show 2018, Johannes Vogt Gallery, Hampton NY
ARCO Madrid, Leyendecker Gallery, Madrid Spain
Senses and Perception, Mana Contemporary, Jersey City NJ
ARCO LISBOA, Leyendecker Gallery, Lisbon Portugal
The Aesthetics of Matter, VOLTA, New York NY
Out of Line, Long Gallery, New York NY
2017
PROJECTS MIAMI BEACH 2017, PULSE Contemporary Art Fair, Miami FL
Hidden In Plain Sight, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, Brooklyn NY
2016
Full Circle, Mason Gallery, New York NY
2015
Superfine Art Fair, Art Basel, Miami FL
2014
I Kan Do Dat, Rush Art Galleries, New York NY
PUBLIC SCULPTURE
2019
3 Ways, Funded by the The Helis Foundation, Poydras Corridor, New Orleans LA
RESIDENCIES
2018
Artist Residency, Galeria Leyendecker Tenerife, Canary Islands
2017
Artist Residency, Fountainhead, Miami FL
2013
Artist Residency, Idiosyncrasy Gallery, New York NY
2010
Artist Residency, Atlantic Center of the Arts, New Smyrna Beach FL
2009-2012
Resident Performer, The Living Theater, New York NY
PERFORMANCES
2012
Seven Meditations on Political Sado-Masochism, The Living Theatre, New York NY
2011
History of the World, The Living Theatre, New York NY
2010
Korach, The Living Theatre, New York NY
2009
Red Noir, The Living Theatre, New York NY
EDUCATION
2009
San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco CA
PRESS
KENNEDY YANKO: IN HER OWN WORDS
Brooklyn NY based Artist Kennedy Yanko guides us through an intimate journey of her process, her connection to materiality, and the intersecting concepts behind her work. Kennedy Yanko is a sculptor based in Bushwick, Brooklyn. She works fluently in metal and paint…
INTERVIEW WITH KENNEDY YANKO BY NOAH BECKER
Kennedy Yanko is a Brooklyn based sculptor, I went to her studio and we had a long conversation about her work. It was great to get a first-hand tour of the studio and some insights into Yanko’s personality and how she manages to thrive in the New York art world…
ALL THE FEELS: NANA TA ASARE BOADU AND KENNEDY YANKO
eel For is a new project by Kennedy Yanko featuring an immersive installation and collaborative performance with artist Nana Ya Asare Boadu. Now on view as part of the BRIC group exhibition, “Alchemy,” Feel For incorporates both repurposed industrial metals…
ARTIST OF THE WEEK: KENNEDY YANKO
ennedy Yanko defies gender norms not only with her stylish unconventional platinum buzz cut, but by creating alluring sculptures with traditionally male-dominated mediums like rubber, metal, wood, and marble. The artist uses her background of painting…
HOW ARTIST KENNEDY YANKO WENT FORM BODYBUILDING TO METALWORKING
For seven years, Kennedy Yanko hustled to make ends meet, like so many young artists do when they move to New York. She lived in a basement with 12 actors and performed at the the now-shuttered Living Theatre in the Lower East Side…
THREE PULSES: VENTIKO, FISCHER CHERRY, AND KENNEDY YANKO
In the lead up to Art Basel Miami this year and every year for that matter, freelance art writers accumulate a plethora of urgent press materials advocating for why certain fairs cannot be missed, why their party will be the party…
STUDIO VISIT WITH KENNEDY YANKO
On a sunny Sunday afternoon in September, I paid a visit to Kennedy Yanko’s raw studio space in Bushwick to take in her powerful sculptures. Yanko is a painter and sculptor who has been Brooklyn-based for the past seven years. Her paintings, which she calls ‘skins’ are…
IT’S A LITTLE ABOUT KENNEDY YANKO
Judith Malina’s 2012 play History of the World stands firmly as the definitive high-water mark for downtown Manhattan’s now-defunct Living Theatre. The play’s themes were timely (see: Occupy) and its cast was as strong as any in the theater’s long history…