Debbi Kenote

Works in NY

BIO

Debbi's works are sneaky in a sense that, instead of denying the existence of a frame, they subtly push against and peak out from it (have you noticed the pairs of eyes in some of her paintings?) Neat square pieces on the outer boundaries of the frame devolve into patterns, curves, and patches of sprayed paint. Some of Debbi's paintings actually look like puzzles, challenging you to play an active role - only to reveal that, in the end, her puzzles yield fun for the sake of it rather than a finished picture.

Debbi Kenote, b. 1991 is a New York based artist who received her MFA from Brooklyn College. She has shown her work throughout the U.S. including Page Bond Gallery, Richmond, VA, Peekskill Project, Peekskill, NY, Deanna Evans Projects, NYC, NY and Front Room Gallery, NYC, NY. In 2019 she had her first solo exhibition at the Canvas by Querencia Studio in Brooklyn, New York. Kenote’s work has been published through Art of Choice and Page Bond Gallery. Kenote has been an artist in residence at the Vermont Studio Center, DNA Residency, Nes Artist Residency, and CAI Projects. She has curated exhibitions at Open House and the 2018 and 2019 SPRING/BREAK Art Show.

You'll love Debbi if: you'd rather take a new path to work every time, even though you know the shortcut

Formally rooted in abstraction, my paintings and drawings take on both natural and anthropomorphic forms. The works are playful, yet they also have an air of mystery and at times, conjure the unsettling feeling of peering into an unknown space. The bright shapes and upbeat borders that are inherent in the work are belied by darker forms that resemble dense forests. I choose to use light in ways that help to create distinct moods in the work.