Spiritual Leon Kennedy with self-portrait.
Here is an article written by Hannah Latham in 2000.
Oakland Artist's Work
Sold to Smithsonian Institution
Oakland, CA (December 4, 2000)—Leon Kennedy, (born 1945, Houston) a self-taught folk artist recently evicted from his MacArthur Street apartment in Oakland, just learned that his work was included in a sale to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C. While Kennedy will not see a dime from the sale of the work, he is pleased to know that he's included in one of the nation's most treasured collections of American art. Kennedy now rents a 8 x 10 ft. single room in a downtown Oakland residency lodge for $500 per month and uses a bathroom down the hall.
The sale to the National Museum of American Art was part of large acquisition of folk art from the Rosenak Collection. The Rosenaks, prominent collectors who've written several books on American folk art, sold more than 200 pieces from their collection to the museum for an undisclosed sum rumored to be more than $1,000,000. The sale took place in 1997, though Kennedy only recently learned about the sale through a friend who happened to view an article online from a back issue of Folk Art Messenger, the quarterly publication of the Folk Art Society of America.
"This acquisition of 220 pieces from the Rosenaks' collection makes the National Museum of American Art the foremost repository for contemporary folk and self-taught art in the United States," write William and Ann Oppenhimer.
Had the sale taken place in California, Kennedy may have been entitled to a percentage of the sale thanks to the CA Resale Royalties Act of 1976 which provides California artists a 5% commission on the resale of their work under certain conditions.
Kennedy is one of the most dynamic and spiritual folk artists working today. Known best for his murals, his art depicts spiritually uplifting scenes of inner city life—street scenes with children playing and churches and fast food restaurants in the background, men playing dominoes, children with their parents and grandparents— at times his work is driven to the abstraction—riveting and powerful faces, hands clasped in prayer, wise men walking on water, and prophets. The repetition of faces aims toward being inclusive—everyone is depicted. Kennedy's unshakable faith is self-evident in his work. Working on bedsheets, cloth, wood, glass, and other found materials, Kennedy paints with tempera, markers, crayons, and glitter. "I ran out of canvas and I had a bedsheet," the artist explains."
His work has been featured in a number of galleries and museums around the country including the African American Museum in Dallas, the San Francisco Arts Commission, The Ames Gallery in Berkeley, CA, Richmond City Hall, Oakland City Hall, and La Pena Cultural Center in Berkeley, CA .
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