About Kenny McKendry

Born in Bangor N. Ireland, Kenny obtained a BA Hons in Illustration from Brighton University.
Being personally tutored by the greats, Raymond Briggs and John Vernon Lord, a successful 12-year career within publishing subsequently followed.

Returning to Ireland, a practice in portraiture and landscape painting steadily gained momentum. Undertaking many commissions at home and abroad whilst regularly showing with The RUA, The Gorry Gallery, Dublin and The Mall Galleries, London.

Being elected in 2024, Kenny is currently the only Irish member of the prestigious 'Royal Society of Portrait Painters.'
Also represented by the London, St James's Gallery 'Fine Art Commissions', Kenny's work can be found in many public and private collections throughout the UK and worldwide.

Artist's Statement

Painting can be very much a haphazard occupation. Hours, days, even weeks of continuous thought and application can be momentarily lost and wiped off with nothing left to reveal itself. All in the pursuit of the right mark, held in the correct place, balanced between the mind's eye and the correct disposition of representational form. Dictated not only by what the eye perceives but also a subliminal search for what else lies within, beyond and eternally. When that balance is in line one can feel on the right track.

Within this, presence is of paramount importance. A successful painting may instruct, appeal to a moral and visual sense, edify and awaken emotion but presence is where it is won or lost. Whether in portraiture, still life, landscape or whatever genre, it is of singular intent. A rare achievement to be pursued with every attempt.

A full time artist for 40 years, the fascination deepens, the prospects and potential ever widening.