An art catalogue for seeing (and knowing) the work of Kennedy Yanko
Client: Kennedy Yanko, artist, and UICA, Grand Rapids, MI
Kennedy Yanko: Before Words. Contributions by Lucy Mensah, Juana Williams, and Kennedy Yanko. Published by UICA and Kavi Gupta, 2019. Perfect bound softcover with velvet finish, 44 pages, 8.5 x 11 inches. Background image and exhibition text courtesy of UICA and the artist.
Before Words is a body of metal and paint skin works by Kennedy Yanko, exhibited at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts (UICA) in 2019–20.
Yanko is a painter-sculptor who combines salvaged metal and supple paint skins in unexpected, lyrical compositions. She simultaneously explores sensory responses to the physicality of her materials, and the innate connections between them despite their seeming dissimilarity.
With Before Words, Yanko posits that firsthand sensory experience is a means to critical thought, and ambiguity can elicit a clear response.
The publication collects artworks in the exhibition, essays, and photos of HANNAH, Yanko’s contemporaneous exhibition at Kavi Gupta in Chicago, to contextualize her practice. Its design subtly embraces the tactile and experiential, inviting the senses to participate in reading the artist’s work.
The touch of experience
Yanko’s works speak to the reader through the publication design. The cover has a velvet finish, akin to the tactility of the paint skins in the work. The inside covers and a spread between content sections are flooded with an earthy orange, similar to many of the colors in Before Words. These immersive color fields are a gesture toward abstraction and the possibilities of material.
Yanko’s material juxtapositions are full of contradiction—delicate lines in hard metal and thick paint skins; scrap as fine art; paint as sculpture.
To match the lyricism and unexpected congruities in her work, the typography features Orpheus Pro, a precise yet flowing typeface; Cardo, a classical serif; and Grotesque MT, an industrial sans serif.
The layouts are are rhythmic, varied, but uncomplicated. The design amplifies the feel of encountering the work.
