Centrefold: Reality bites: Vicious sketches of the hurly-burly in a smart, West End club
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Your support makes all the difference.At first glance, you might be forgiven for thinking that Peter Kennelly's work is a form of caricature. But Kennelly draws exactly what he sees. The harsh faces, heavy jaws and hooded eyes in his drawings are taken straight from the characters he sees around him. Fleeting images of London: a man on a bus or a regular at his local East End pub in Woodford.
As a figurative artist, his attention to detail is precise, even down to the muscle tone of large, burly workmen - the sort of muscle tone which is built up through hard labour rather than long hours down the gym. There is comedy in his pictures, often, as the exhibition title suggests ('No one turns them out like this') of a cynical, sneering nature. The titles, like Losers on the bus (right), are brutally to the point.
A former Goldsmiths' student, Kennelly, 29, is sure of his talent. He told his art dealer, Paul Stolper, that he wanted 'Genius' printed on the back of his limited edition postcards. Whether or not his drawings are to your taste, one very good reason for checking them out is that they are on display upstairs at the Groucho Club. If you've ever wanted to see what the exclusive media watering-hole looks like, now's your chance.
It is extremely ironic that Kennelly's cruel figures are appearing in such an effete place as the Groucho. But then you get the feeling that Kennelly knows that and, more importantly, that he planned it that way.
'No one turns them out like this' opens today and runs to 13 Sept at the Groucho Club, 44 Dean St, W1V 5AP. Call first to check on opening times (071-439 4685)
(Photograph omitted)
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