Beauty of human body is subject of artist’s new exhibit

It is often said that the human body is a beautiful thing, a piece of art in itself. Local artist and IU School of Fine Arts faculty member Tim Kennedy has embraced this mantra through his exhibit, “Figures,” now on display at the Textillery Gallery on the second floor of the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.\nThe exhibit features a collection of drawings and paintings of nude models that Kennedy has completed over the course of the past year. However, these pieces are not what one would normally find on display by the artist. Each piece was completed in only one or two sittings – roughly three hours per drawing, and about six hours per painting – and are not necessarily the polished pieces many would expect in an art gallery.\n“Many would think of them more like exercises and put them away in a portfolio and not be seen, but I like them,” he said. “This is a nice little place to show them, and it’s really more for my satisfaction.”\nThe pieces on display were completed at the figure sessions held Sunday and Monday nights in the painting classrooms in the School of Fine Arts building. At these sessions, a pose is done on Sunday night and then completed the following night.\nFor Kennedy, each piece began as a loose gesture drawing with charcoal before taking shape and being seen more clearly as a figure. As more permanent colors were added, he made a point to try to interpret light around the model as colors, either warm or cool. The final pieces all use a limited amount of colors, and greens, reds and blacks are predominant in the exhibit. \n“The figure is a nice thing to paint and draw,” he said. “It’s a wonderful activity that you lose yourself in.”\nKennedy’s larger body of work consists more of still-life pieces, although he does say that since coming to Bloomington, he has been working on the human figure more often. Many of his recent paintings have focused primarily on his home on South Lincoln Street and the surrounding neighborhood. In a printed statement at the exhibit, he said that in those and many other pieces in his body of work, he would normally “place the figure, clothed, in an architectural setting with a minimal narrative.” \nKennedy has been a member of the IU faculty since 2000, and teaches mostly painting and drawing classes. In addition, he regularly participates in graduate student art critiques. \n“I like all the levels that I do it at,” he said of his teaching. \nIU alumni Jennifer Schmetzer was a student in his advanced drawing class and remembers the genuine connection he had with all of his students, no matter their skill level. \n“He was very inspirational,” she said. “He genuinely enjoyed drawing and painting and expressed that to us, and got me to enjoy it, which is hard to do.”\n“Figures” will be on display in the gallery through Dec. 10. Pieces on display are available for purchase through the Buskirk-Chumley. Admission to the gallery is free.