Return to Eden Painting

Steven Kenny was born in Peekskill, New York in 1962. He attended the Rhode Island School of Design, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1984. His final year of art school was spent studying independently in Rome. That direct exposure to European art (especially the Baroque works of the Italian, Dutch and Flemish schools) had a significant effect on his painting style. First settling in New York City, he gained notoriety as a freelance commercial illustrator. Clients included Sony Music, Time Magazine, AT&T, United Airlines, Celestial Seasonings, Microsoft and many others. His illustrations repeatedly received awards from the Society of Illustrators, Communication Arts Magazine and the Art Directors' Club of New York. In 1997 Steven moved to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. From that time forward he devoted his attention entirely to the fine arts. In early 2010 Steven returned to his home state of New York where he continues to exhibit his award-winning paintings in galleries across the United States and Europe. From an early age the beauty and mystery of nature have deeply influenced his chosen subject matter. Steven's imagery might be described as Baroque surrealism. His compositions most often combine the human figure with elements from nature to comment on our interactions with the environment while symbolically alluding to the dynamics of human nature in general.