Kenny Pittock is an artist based in Naarm/Melbourne who works with ceramics, painting, and drawing to playfully critique the seemingly mundane, often using humour as entry point to discussing topics such as anxiety, both on a personal level as well as on a global scale.

In May 2024, Pittock joined SAM Digital Content Coordinator Kati Hogarth for a conversation about his featured Art Wall exhibition Can You Peel The Love Tonight.

Photo: Shepparton Art Museum

How did you come to choose the humble can as the subject for the Art Wall?

I was thinking about the Greater Shepparton region and what it provides to the country, and how sometimes we can be a little bit disconnected from where our produce comes from. I thought this would be a really nice way of celebrating this region and the produce that comes out of here, which the whole country benefits from, while at the same time being a little bit playful.

My grandparents owned a milk bar while I was growing up, and my earliest jobs were at a fish and chip shop, then at a supermarket packing shelves, so I've been around these cans a lot in terms of my work. I’m also just a big fan of peaches and pears and any other Shepparton produce, and I wanted to make a work that pays a little tribute to that.

I love the title of the artwork —it really made me laugh. How did you decide on the name?

The idea for the mural started with thinking about the can, and then imagining two cans sitting next to each other with the lids peeling back to form the shape of a heart, which has become the form of a ceramic sculpture that I've made that's also included within the space. For the mural, I wanted to sort of elaborate on that and bring in vintage cans from various eras. And so some of the cans within the mural are quite contemporary, and then some of them go back about a hundred years to celebrate the heritage of the industry.

I had a few names bouncing around, as I was figuring out what the artwork was going to look like, and then when I landed on Can You Peel the Love Tonight, it really fit perfectly. The whole time I've been painting it, I've had that song stuck in my head. Luckily, it's a good song.

Can You Peel The Love Tonight, installation view. Photo: Leon Schoots

You blend humour and art so perfectly, so seamlessly. What do you want viewers to think about when they see the mural?

I hope when people experience the mural, they find joy in it and that they also maybe think a little bit more about where their food comes from and celebrate this region and everything it has to offer. The other interesting thing about the mural is I'm competing with a beautiful view of the Victoria Lake, so hopefully people look at the mural as well as the view.

Even on the first day of installing this work, people have been coming by and stopping to chat. I've spoken with multiple people who have told me about how they, or their son, or their daughter have done night shift at the SPC factory or worked there at one point. It does seem like a lot of people in the area have a very strong connection to the industry and it's a big part of the community, and I wanted to reference that.

Ultimately, it's a big still life painting, and still life is kind of about referencing some of the overlooked things in our lives and what they can mean; often they have really deep connections and deep meanings to us.

I really love that idea of celebrating the everyday objects — at the end of the day, we want to connect with each other, and we connect through things we find relatable. You do that so well with your work — who knows what this is going to bring to people's minds? It might bring some incredible memories.

Well, that's the thing about food; we all bring the very different, often emotional experiences to seeing it and being around it. We have very strong associations and memories, and I hope that this mural taps into that and that people get something out of it. The other nice thing about this space is that a lot of people that might not ordinarily walk into a gallery come through here just for the view, if nothing else. And I hope that it encourages them to spend more time thinking about art as well.

Photo: Shepparton Art Museum

Do you have any memories of SPC, like from when you worked at the supermarket?

I actually remember road trips to the SPC factory in my childhood — we would stock up on peaches. I've always loved peaches and yoghurt as a dessert, as a breakfast, as an afternoon snack, as a midnight snack, anytime of day, so it’s something that I obviously associate quite strongly with Shepparton, and I didn't want it to feel gimmicky. It was important that I referenced the heritage and was respectful to the iconography that I'm working with, and that it was clear that it's playful, but it's also genuine. And as it says in the title, it’s come from a place of love ⁂

Can You Peel The Love Tonight is now showing at SAM until 24 March 2025.