KENNY PITTOCK
Trying To Leaf Things Better Than We Found Them
EXHIBITION TEXT
MARS Gallery is excited to present Trying to leaf things better than we found them, a significant new body of work in an exhibition by Kenny Pittock featuring paintings and ceramic sculpture.
The title of the exhibition, Trying to leaf things better than we found them, speaks to ideas of personal growth, kindness and togetherness, while responding to themes that are both timely and timeless. In a year where time has never felt so crumbly, Pittock’s work playfully responds to the everyday mundane.
Through nostalgic iconography and colloquialisms Pittock hints at feelings of distress, humorously teased out through various examples of comfort food. In works such as Life is like a box of crayons (2020) and Social bubbles and social Bubble’O’s (2020) Pittock uses humour to reflect on coping mechanisms.
Symphony Orchid-stra (2020), comprising of several hand sculpted life size ceramic orchids playing musical instruments, stand united upon plinths at the back of the gallery. Serenading us for as long as we’ll allow them, they gently remind us of the importance of listening to nature.
In Hello from the other side (2020), we find a hand sculpted upside down calculator displaying the numbers that spell ‘hello’, acting as both tribute to our ability to stay connected via technology, and a celebration of coming through something challenging. Pittock’s work brings smiles to all who experience it, and with an unshakeable message of hope he gently reminds us that although things might go pear shaped, our days can still remain fruitful.
This is Pittock’s second solo exhibition with MARS Gallery. Pittock received an Honours Fine Arts Degree from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2013, and since then has had solo exhibitions in Italy and Singapore, as well as consistently exhibited his work throughout Australia in galleries including ACCA in Melbourne, PICA in Perth, Artspace in Sydney, Hugo Michell Gallery in Adelaide and MONA in Tasmania. In 2017 Pittock was the recipient of the Redlands Emerging Artist Award.
Pittock’s work is represented in many major collections including Artbank, Melbourne Town Hall, University of Queensland, Deakin University, Monash University Museum Of Art, ING Bank, as well as many private collections.
MARS Gallery and Kenny Pittock would like to acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, whose land this exhibition has been created on, and pay respect to their Elders past, present and emerging, who have been creating art here for thousands of years.
