Matt Kenny “See Forever” at The National Exemplar, New York

Matt Kenny presents caricatures of One World Trade Center, also known as the Freedom Tower, in detailed oil paintings. The style mimics New York street artists portrait parodies. Kenny anthropomorphizes the building into a looming creature bent on capturing the soul of New York City. On it’s homepage One World Trade Center self describes as “safe, sustainable, artistically dynamic – One WTC stands as a shining beacon for New York’s Downtown”. As the tallest building in America and given the violent past of this location, One World Trade Center’s influence extends far beyond downtown New York, a feeling referenced by the never ending horizon in Kenny’s leading painting. The progression of Kenny’s works in the gallery pull ever closer to the building, transitioning across the three paintings from night, to dawn, to day. “See Forever” also exhibits a shaped-canvas representation of binoculars, referencing the surveillance culture burgeoning in America within the years of the One World Trade Center’s construction, and the technology necessary to connect with the building’s surroundings from it’s observation deck. 

“See Forever” is on view until May 3rd at The National Exemplar, New York. Text and Photo Elise Gallant.