The deco mirror Print

Grant Kenny was born in Auckland in 1963. Enrolled at Elam school of Fine Arts in 1982 and worked part time at Artworks foundry, where he discovered a love for sculpture. In 1984 he moved to Sydney where he took life-drawing classes at the Julian Ashton school of Art. He embarked on a journey to Europe where he would spend the next decade. The first four years in London and Italy painting copies in the national Gallery in London and attending life classes at Chelsea school of Art. Here he met and received great encouragement from the renowned British painter Francis Bacon. In 1989 Kenny moved to Madrid studying in the Circulo de Bellas Artes, and the Museo del Prado. He received a number of important commissions from one of Spain’s most respected lawyers, who arranged for Mr Kenny to be given a private room in the Prado to copy Holbein’s portrait of Sir Thomas More. His first solo show soon followed in Madrid. (1993) In 1994 Kenny travelled to North America painting and returned to New Zealand later that year. The Ferner Gallery in Parnell recognised Grant’s talent and upon his return he continued to exhibit in group shows with them. In 2000 Kenny had a solo show of West coast landscapes in Lopdell House,Titirangi. He continues to divide his time between figure painting and landscapes both painting in New Zealand and Spain, returning frequently to Andalucia, a region he particularly loves for its colour, light and subject matter.