Marcus Imani Kennedy

Studio Member since 2020

Born in Evanston in 1991, Marcus now lives in Chicago. An avid fan of a wide range of music (especially Brazilian jazz, R&B, reggae, bossa nova, hip hop, and classic rock), he always listens to favorite radio stations while working in the studio. Kennedy often finds inspiration in the work of other artists, sometimes borrowing an initial approach but transforming and reimagining it through his distinct creative vision. His extensive, ongoing series of vibrant pattern-based works on paper has manifested as hundreds of abstract iterations, endless explorations within a certain set of guiding parameters. These velvety acrylic and oil pastel works reflect a sophisticated, intuitive sense of color and form.

“I came up with my own beautiful style. I get inspired by other artists’ work, like Tim Stone. I make it my own and put music into it. I listen to different music, it flows me. I hear a song on the radio (like 101.9 The Mix) and put the song into the artwork. It could be Chuck Berry, Jimmy Smith, Talking Heads. I do the outlines all the way around in pastel first. Shapes are dancing to the music. Then color just comes to my mind and I add paint. Dark colors and bright colors, a little bit of both. I’m pretty good at mixing colors. Painting takes a while, sometimes it takes a day or two. Sometimes it can take weeks. I use paint and pastel at the same time because it looks beautiful that way.”