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Annie Kevans

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Annie Kevans (born Cannes, France) is an English artist. She was named number 19 in Harper's Bazaar magazine's Forty Under 40 chart of hot new British talent, September 2007[1] and was named number 32 in New Woman magazine’s Brit Hit List and was described as the "new Tracey Emin".[2] She paints with bright oils and vivid brushwork.

Education and work 2004 - 2009

Kevans took her BA at Central St Martins College of Art and Design (1999 - 2004). While studying at St Martins, Kevans worked at the V&A Museum of Childhood in London's East End.[3] The 30 paintings from the series Boys, from her BA Degree show, were bought in their entirety by Charles Saatchi in 2004.[4] These paintings showed 20th Century tyrants, dictators and war criminals such as Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot and Radovan Karadzic as wide-eyed toddlers. Kevans expressed pleasure at the sale: "I was pleased because it was a BA show and he normally only goes to MA shows. I'm hoping that it will be shown at the new gallery. I know he has had it framed, because I was asked to go and chose a frame with him, but I was too scared".[5]

Her second series, Girls, exhibited at London's Studio 1.1 gallery in 2006 was an installation of a girl's bedroom complete with bed, a lampshade, teddy bears and other childhood toys and memorabilia. Kevans' brightly coloured painting of Shirley Temple hung on the wall above the bed.[6]

She has painted child stars such as Britney Spears and Doreen Tracey as Mouseketeers from their childhood days working for Disney's Mickey Mouse Club TV show. These paintings include the girls dressed up in the iconic Mickey Mouse ears. Robert Diament, singer of UK pop band Temposhark, included one of these paintings Mouseketeer Britney Spears With Ears (2007) in an article about the artist for USA pop music blog ArjanWrites.com in 2007.[7]

Kevans' next series, entitled Swans, shown in June 2007 at 319 Portobello Road, focused on the 'American Dream' and included an image of Jessica Dubroff, a seven-year old pilot who, encouraged by her parents to become the youngest person to achieve a solo-flight across the Atlantic, tragically plunged to her death mid-flight.[8] She was, "Inspired by an American makeover programme called The Swan where women of low self esteem are transformed by plastic surgery. For me it exemplifies societies obesession with youth and beauty."[9]

All 27 paintings in the Swans exhibition sold out as soon as it opened and Kevans was therefore able to give up her day job as a secretary to focus on her art full-time.[10]

Her One Child series (2005) looked at China's 'One Child' policy which forces many families to have only one child in order to keep China's population growth under control. Gods and Aliens (2004) looked at the human need to believe.

One of Kevans’ paintings appeared on Have I Got News For You in late April 2007.[11]

In September 2007, Kevans exhibited a new series of paintings she'd been working on called Vamps and Innocents, for a solo show in Vienna, based on the silent films of the 1920s and its stars. The entire show sold out in its first week. Kevans said,

The portraits are of the '20s female movie stars who were forced to either play the role of the virgin or the whore.[12]

Fellow artists Marc Quinn and Stella Vine are noted as being fans of her paintings.[13] Quinn has Kevans' work in his art collection.[14]

In October 2007, Annie Kevans was shortlisted for a Women Of The Future award in the Art and Culture Woman of the Future category. [15]

In September 2008, a Kevans painting of star Brooke Shields sold for a record price at the charity auction for the Macmillan De'Longhi Art Auction in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.[16] Whilst in October 2008, Kevans donated a surfboard with an painted image of 1940s actress Esther Williams, who was known as the "Hollywood Mermaid"[17], to the charity auction for Surfers Against Sewage.[18] Other artists involved included Tracey Emin, Gavin Turk, Sir Paul McCartney and Ben Eine.

In October 2008, it was announced that Kevans was working with modern art gallery FAS Contemporary, part of Fine Art Society[19] and her work became a best seller at their Scope art fair stand in London, selling 7 paintings during the preview morning alone.[20] In November 2008, Kevans contributed a painting, orginially used as the sleeve art for her musician husband Will Kevans' record Dialing Tone in 2007[21], to an exhibition Awopbopaloobop in London, where artists had made works inspired by a favourite song lyric.[22] The painting had been banned in November 2007 by online music store iTunes who operate a "strict "no nipples" rule" forcing the artist to crop the image in order for iTunes to stock the song.[21] Kevans' said: “The picture’s now cropped, so you just see the face. I didn’t worry about it, because painting isn’t usually thought of as pornographic.”[21] In December 2008, Toby Clarke of Kevans' gallery Fine Art Society announced they had sold a further 12 paintings at their Scope art fair stand in Miami, USA.[23]

In January 2009, Kevans was a judge for the Daler Rowney international art competition Make Your Mark.[24] The winner of the Further Education category won a two night stay in London and the opportunity to spend a day with Annie Kevans.[24]

In March 2009, Kevans had her first USA solo exhibition All the Presidents Girls[25] at Volta NY in New York.[26] The International Art Newspaper reviewed the exhibition of "beautifully executed paintings"[27] depicting all the mistresses of US presidents including Monica Lewinsky and Marylin Monroe, and commented the show was "pulling in the crowds".[27] A gallery spokeswoman said that all 11 pieces relating to JFK sold before the fair opened, with around 12 other works purchased within an hour of the event launch. One US couple commented "as Americans, we find it mildly offensive".[27]

Solo Exhibitions

  • Annie Kevans at Volta NY with FAS Contemporary, New York, USA (5 - 8 March 2009)
  • Vamps and Innocents at Galleria Antonio Ferrara, Vienna, Austria (September 2007)
  • Swans at 319 Portobello Road, London, UK (1 - 23 June 2007)
  • Girls at Studio 1.1, 57a Redchurch Street, London, UK (7 April - 7 May 2006)

Collections

References

  1. ^ Annie Kevans London based artist, - 40 under 40
  2. ^ Taken from New Woman 'The Brit Hit List' magazine article, July 2006.
  3. ^ Interview quote of Annie Kevans interviewed by Francesca Martin, taken from Harper's Bizarre magazine, 2007.
  4. ^ Figure and information taken from Evening Standard article 'In Search Of The Next Big Thing' published 23 May 2007
  5. ^ http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article355355.ece Quote from The Independent newspaper article " Unknown artist's exhibition illustrates the enduring influence of Charles Saatchi" 2006
  6. ^ http://www.anniekevans.com/index.php?Exhibitions_%26amp%3B_Events:Past:Girls Description of the exhibition, photo of which can be seen at Anniekevans.com
  7. ^ http://www.arjanwrites.com/arjanwrites/2007/12/a-piece-of-brit.html
  8. ^ http://www.artworkproductions.net Information sourced from the press release for Kevans' Swans exhibition from Art Work Productions
  9. ^ Interview quote of Annie Kevans interviewed by Francesca Martin, taken from Harper's Bizarre magazine, 2007.
  10. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/06/05/bamarketnews.xml The Telegraph arts news
  11. ^ http://www.artworkproductions.net/ Named number 32 in New Woman’s‘Brit Hit List’, one of Kevans’ paintings will be appearing on ‘Have I Got News For You’ in late April.
  12. ^ http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/blogon/2007/06/laura_k_jones_on_annie_kevans_2.php Laura K Jones reviews Kevans' show Swans in 2007
  13. ^ Annie Kevans London based artist, - Harper's Bazaar Jul 07
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i Profile: Collections, AnnieKevans.com, 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  15. ^ Women Of The Future
  16. ^ http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Documents/Support_Material/Get_involved/London_events/DeLonghi-Catalogue.pdf
  17. ^ Kevans "Hollywood Mermaid" surf board, Artnet.com, 2008.
  18. ^ http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=EUR&screen=lotdetailsNoFlash&iSaleItemNo=4054564&iSaleNo=16484&iSaleSectionNo=1
  19. ^ http://www.faslondon.com/artist_contemporary/Annie_Kevans_8418.aspx
  20. ^ Basciano, Oliver. Scope Dealers Optimistic Despite Slow Start ArtInfo.com, 16 October 2008. Retrieved October 2008.
  21. ^ a b c Cole, Olivia "", November 2007. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
  22. ^ "Biteback", 11 November 2008. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
  23. ^ "Miami 08’s Most Talked About Art Fair Draws a Record 30,000 Visitors" Life Is Art, December 2008. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
  24. ^ a b Make Your Mark International Art Competition Winners Announced, 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  25. ^ Anderson, Ariston. Annie Kevan (sic): All the Presidents' Girls, Cool Hunting, 6th March 2009.
  26. ^ Annie Kevans News, AnnieKevans.com, 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  27. ^ a b c "Review: Volta 2009", from The International Art Newspaper, p. 9, March 2009.
  28. ^ http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/annie_kevans.htm
  29. ^ http://www.arjanwrites.com/arjanwrites/2007/12/a-piece-of-brit.html
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