Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. at Loyola University Chicago

Amos Paul Kenedy Jr., an artist/printer from Alabama, is showing his recent body of graphic prints at the Crown Center Gallery at Loyola University Chicago, (September 5 - 28). Kennedy's work is an exuberant and lively grouping of hand-printed graphic posters, filled with phrases and slogans from pop culture, the Bible, African-American culture and the upcoming US presidential election. Kennedy incorporates bold, direct and 'in-your-face' phrases which are meant to challenge the audience and engage conversation. He does not describe himself as an 'artist', but a printer - trying to get across his message as quickly as he can. Like his work, Kennedy strikes one upon meeting him as a man with a mission, and he doesn't have time to waste.

To that end, the exhibition at Crown Center Gallery is a maze of colorful images, phrases, posters and printed road maps. Kennedy prefers to install his own shows, tacking or stapling his unmatted and unframed posters directly onto the walls. His method is spontaneous and the phrases blend into one another in a stream of multi-leveled thoughts and feelings. Kennedy has also hung posters and printed travel road maps along a clothesline which is zig-zagged throughout the gallery. People have to wander in between the posters as one would travel through a maze. Part of the journey are the discoveries one encounters along the way. In this case, the phrases one sees throughout the space give insight to his feelings and passions about life and the US political arena.

At the end of the gallery, Kennedy has isolated two printed pieces. The first is a series of four Alabama travel road maps which are printed with the names of four people slain in the Civil Rights march at Selma, Alabama. In addition, he has printed 'Your Right to VOTE has been paid in Full'. It is a moving testament to the evolution of African-Americans' struggle for the right to vote, and the progress of Martin Luther King's message which has culminated in Illinois Senator Barak Obama's achievement as a US presidential candidate in 2008.

The second piece is a series of fourteen quotations by Civil Rights pioneer Rosa Parks. The phrases are candid expressions that Ms. Parks is known for saying about her struggle for equality. The images are nuanced by densely-layered color, which sometimes masks the phrases so the viewer needs to come up close to read and decifer them.

Prefering to make his posters accessible to the public, Kennedy openly encourages people to take the pieces off the wall and take them home immediately. His prices are modest and extremely affordable, which also appeals to his patrons. In fact, Kennedy is quite pleased if there is nothing left on the gallery walls by the end of the exhibition because more of his message is 'out there'.

Kennedy came to be a printer after working many years in corporate America. He left security behind to pursue his work, and has become one of the pre-eminent printers in the US. He currently maintains his printshop in Gordo, Alabama, and teaches Graphic Design at Longwood University in Virginia. Kennedy makes hand-bound books as well and shows his work throughout the US.

Filmmaker Laura Zinger has recently completed a yearlong documentary about Kennedy and his work called " Proceed and Be Bold". It provides an entertaining and humorous insight into Amos' interests and influences. It will premiere at the Naperville Film Festival in late September.

For more informaiton about this exhibition, please contact Teresa Parker at tparke1@luc.edu

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