Dale Wilson Kennington (January 24, 1935 – May 2, 2017) was a

Contemporary Artist Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art i ...

working in the style of New American Realism.

Life

Kennington was born in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

and lived most of her life in

Dothan, Alabama Dothan is a city in and the county seat of Houston County, Alabama, Houston County in the U.S. state of Alabama. A slight portion of the city extends into Dale County, Alabama, Dale and Henry County, Alabama, Henry counties. It had a population ...

. She received a B.A. in Art History and Design in 1956 from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal Plain, Gulf Coastal and Piedmont (United States), Piedm ...

. She also married her husband, Don Kennington, in the same year. In her early 40s she studied portraits because she wanted to have portraits of her children. She practiced by creating portraits of local children, developing a client list with the parents of her models. In the mid-1980s she gave up portraiture-for-hire work and moved to studio work. She has received numerous accolades and awards for her work. In 2009, she was recognized by the Alabama State Council on the Arts with the Governor's Arts Award, and the Alabama Bureau of Tourism and Travel as one of

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

's "Master Artists".

Works

Her imagery is often of anonymous, passive individuals engaged in the banal, idle activities of

everyday life Everyday life, daily life or routine life comprises the ways in which people typically act, think, and feel on a daily basis. Everyday life may be described as mundane, routine, natural, habitual, or Normality (behavior), normal. Human diurna ...

: riding the subway, people watching or sitting at a bar. Kennington refers to these repetitive moments as rituals that contribute to the shared condition of humanity, ultimately elevating them to the status of

myth Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

s. The settings of her paintings appear as sober theatrical stages into which anyone could recognize herself. Kennington later moved to painting folding screens after her husband's death. In these works she returned to her abstract roots, emphasizing shape and light and expanding upon the spatial complexities introduced in earlier series. Kennington's work is included in numerous public and private collections including the

Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts is a museum located in Montgomery, Alabama, USA, featuring several art collections. The permanent collection includes examples of 19th- and 20th-century American paintings and sculpture, Southern regional art, O ...

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...

, the

Columbus Museum of Art The Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Formed in 1878 as the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts (its name until 1978), it was the first art museum to register its charter with the state of Ohio. The museum collec ...

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee ...

, the Wiregrass Museum of Art,

, and the Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum at the University of Louisiana,

Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette ( , ) is the most populous city in and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, Lafayette Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located along the Vermilion River (Louisiana), Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's List of municipaliti ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennington, Dale 1935 births 2017 deaths People from Dothan, Alabama Artists from Savannah, Georgia University of Alabama alumni Painters from Alabama American women painters 21st-century American women