Line, gesture, and geometry coalesce in dynamic visual harmonies in painter James Kennedy’s exhibition, Spaces for the Mind and Eye, at Callan Contemporary. Titled after a thought-provoking profile of Kennedy in the March 2026 issue of AD Design, the show highlights his masterful integration of art-historical influences such as Futurism, Abstract Expressionism, the paintings of Ben Nicholson, and the architectonics of Le Corbusier—all channeled through the prism of his own singular aesthetic viewpoint. To create his elegant abstractions on eucalyptus Masonite panel, Kennedy applies as many as 100 translucent acrylic washes over a gesso base, selectively incorporating pumice, graphite, modeling- paste extender, and micaceous iron oxide in layers so topographical, they often cast subtle shadows. This haptic, organic quality, contextualized within an organizing principle of order and balance, has origins in his interdisciplinary background across the fine arts, theater, dance, and design. The paintings that result from these meticulous processes are not only optically alluring, but visceral, almost corporeal.
