INTERSTITCH

inhabiting the small narrow spaces that bridge movements or parts
FEATURING THE WORK OF JAMES KENNEY
HERE SINCE 1996
OLDER THAN GOOGLE

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James Kenney is an artist working in his barn atop a lava-cap mountain in the Sierra Nevada. In his previous career as a filmmaker, his work was shown during the Academy Awards, he was a fellow at Pixar, and he ran academic programs at the Cannes Film Festival. Jim’s work has been exhibited at the SFMOMA, The Museum of Fine Arts Boston, The San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, The Alexandria Museum, and at The Wrong Biennale. He taught for thirteen years at the California College of the Arts, as an Associate Professor, and has lectured at Stanford and UC Berkeley.

Jim’s experience includes going behind the BERLIN WALL during the Cold War; filming in the middle of a NEO-NAZI RALLY; taking a boat from ST. PETERBURG TO MOSCOW; escorting FAYE DUNAWAY to a premiere at Cannes; and chartering a boat up the CONGO RIVER, famed in Heart of Darkness.
HIGHLIGHTS OF PAST WORK :
STRANDED In June 2025, Jim had a solo exhibition of his work at the Language Mobilization Factory gallery in Los Angeles.
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    SIERRA GOTHIC. The portrait painting was exhibited at The Museum of Fine Arts Boston and The Alexandria Museum of Art. (tap image for more information)
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    Tim thought he had cancer. I painted him during the three months it took our rural health care system to schedule his biopsy. He waited in fear that the lymphoma was aggressively spreading from his neck. My approach suggests both his potential necrotic creep and his inner will to patiently bear his pain. Tim didn’t have cancer, and I painted that too. His brow is polished like dipped sterling. The painting evolved over many months. Its layered surface is a record of our process.

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    Tim thought he had cancer. I painted him during the three months it took our rural health care system to schedule his biopsy. He waited in fear that the lymphoma was aggressively spreading from his neck. My approach suggests both his potential necrotic creep and his inner will to patiently bear his pain. Tim didn’t have cancer, and I painted that too. His brow is polished like dipped sterling. The painting evolved over many months. Its layered surface is a record of our process.

    SAD CLOWN 01. The self-portrait painting was exhibited at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art.
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    POLACK. Trailer for Jim’s first documentary where he went looking for the source of the Polish joke in American, but found much more. WATCH THE ENTIRE FILM HERE FREE
    TALKING WRITING. Jim published a photo essay regarding his visit to the Congolese hospital traced as the source for the spread of HIV throughout the world. READ THE ARTICLE HERE
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    DAUGHTER FROM DANANG. Jim created all of the animated sequences for this documentary. Watch his title sequence played during the 2003 Academy Awards below.
    CREATIVE QUARTERLY publishes the poster designed by Jim for SF Shorts Film Festival, as a Winner of the professional graphic design category of its semi-annual journal.
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    OTHER THAN. Trailer. Jim developed and produced this feature documentary, combining 11 short films, shot around the globe about outsiders. WATCH THE ENTIRE FILM HERE FREE
    HOUSEWIFE IN THE HEART OF DARKNESS. Jim’s third documentary. The confrontation of a Dust Bowl matriarch by her daughter’s sexual abuse is paralleled with the historic exploitation of the Congo. Watch Extended Trailer Below.
    SHORT FILMS. Watch Jim’s early experimental short films made at the dawn of digital filmmaking and the first dot-com. GO TO SHORTS PAGE
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    ABOUT. To learn more about Jim, GO TO THE ABOUT PAGE
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