Kenny Dunkan
No Apologies

Discover Kenny Dunkan

Reiffers Art Center
30, rue des Acacias
75017 Paris

Dates
October 2021

Rashid Johnson is Kenny Dunkan’s mentor for the “NO APOLOGIES” exhibition, at the Reiffers Art Center.

Winner of the first Reiffers Art Initiatives mentorship, the French artist from Guadeloupe has pursued an in-depth dialogue with his mentor Rashid Johnson for several months. Nourished by his exchanges and the advice of the famous Afro-American artist, Kenny Dunkan proposed an exhibition at the opening of the FIAC 2021 in the form of an initiatory journey punctuated by three immersive and original monumental installations, as well as new sculptures, videos and photographs.

PARTNERSHIP MazarineGroup
SCENOGRAPHY La Mode en Images

Rashid Johnson — Two Standing Broken Men, 2020 & Kenny Dunkan — Cracked Clouds, 2021

Kenny Dunkan — NO APOLOGIES, 2021

Kenny Dunkan — VOLKAN, 2021 & Kenny Dunkan —MAKRÉLAJ, 2019-2021 & Kenny Dunkan —THE FLOOR IS LAVA, 2021

Kenny Dunkan — THE FLOOR IS LAVA, 2021 & Kenny Dunkan —VOLKAN, 2021

Kenny Dunkan — RELIQUE, 2010-2021

Kenny Dunkan — CARBET, 2021

Kenny Dunkan — BRUSH, 2021

Rashid Johnson — Two Standing Broken Men, 2020 & Kenny Dunkan — Cracked Clouds, 2021

Kenny Dunkan — NO APOLOGIES, 2021

Kenny Dunkan — VOLKAN, 2021 & Kenny Dunkan —MAKRÉLAJ, 2019-2021 & Kenny Dunkan —THE FLOOR IS LAVA, 2021

Kenny Dunkan — THE FLOOR IS LAVA, 2021 & Kenny Dunkan —VOLKAN, 2021

Kenny Dunkan — RELIQUE, 2010-2021

Kenny Dunkan — CARBET, 2021

Kenny Dunkan — BRUSH, 2021

Kenny Dunkan

Is a French artist graduated from l’École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs de Paris en 2014.

Originally from Guadeloupe, Kenny Dunkan regularly draws on the visual culture of the Caribbean, particularly carnivals, periods of social, cultural and political role reversal, to develop a work that addresses the French colonial heritage and the persistence of its modes of representation. To do this, Dunkan often starts with his own black body, which he stages through various media, from video to performance, including sculpture and assemblage.
He graduated from the Ecole Nationale des Arts Décoratifs de Paris in 2014 with honors, and won the ADAGP Prize for Visual Arts at the 2015 Salon de Montrouge. From 2016 to 2017, Kenny Dunkan was a resident at the Villa Medici, Académie de France in Rome.

Photo Credit : Philippe Fragnière & Aurélien Mole.

Charm #003
Kenny Dunkan, 2021

NO APOLOGIES
Kenny Dunkan, 2021

Charm #012
Kenny Dunkan, 2021

"NO APOLOGIES" deepened the artist's reflections on his Caribbean heritage. Each installation formed a microclimate drawing on the cultural richness of Guadeloupe: from the aesthetic and symbolic power of carnival to mythologies and magical and religious beliefs.

A way also for Kenny Dunkan to discuss the post-colonial heritage of his island. The body, a recurring theme of the artist who does not hesitate to stage his own black body, was also at the heart of the devices: a fragmented body, multiple and becoming.

The title "NO APOLOGIES" refers for Kenny Dunkan to all the current violence done to bodies, whether black, gay... and the refusal to excuse them. "I have too often apologized for being who I am," explains the artist. Because of my skin color, my sexuality... Today, I no longer want to apologize for being the person I am."

— Kenny Dunkan.

Charm #001
Kenny Dunkan, 2021

NO APOLOGIES
Kenny Dunkan, 2021

Charm #017
Kenny Dunkan, 2021

Kenny Dunkan No Apologies

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Kenny Dunkan
No Apologies