Eyes are the window of the soul.

There are only a few artists who can paint a face, and when looking into the eyes of the portrait you feel an instant connection to the person. We here at Koo are extremely lucky to have one of these talented people on our site! New York artist, Jeremy Penn has the ability to paint faces and show so much emotion be hind their eyes.

24KKM is unique in that it is dusted in real 24K Gold! His blog descirbes why he desided on using gold to finiah the portrait,' “Kate Moss has evolved into something more than just a supermodel. She is royalty. No color pigment can represent Kate Moss in the way in which she deserves. Real gold is the only choice,” said Penn of his use of 24-karat gold.'

Penn was born in 1979 in New York and studied Fine Art at both the University of Maryland and Pratt Institute. Since college he has been making a name for himself by painting. He has shown his work in some amazing places. We met up with him while we were at Art Basel Miami Beach, where he showed Le Réve Classique and 24KKM.

In Penn's bio he says that “His works have been exhibited internationally and received honors from curators at museums such as The Museum of Modern Art, New York and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. In 2009, Penn was honored as the “Featured Artist” for New York City’s Freedom Week. In 2010, Penn’s art was awarded ASFD’s Pinnacle Award, ADEX Gold Medal in Design, and the Peace Maker Award for his painting “War Child”. In 2011, Penn was the artist selected to represent the United States during Rosafest, a global art exhibition celebrating the Pan-American Games.”

This past year Penn has been working on some very interesting projects. One being his William Murphy Series. William Murphy was inmate. His 1914 mug shot landed in Penn's hands and the rest is history. 

Penn saw something in William Murphy's eyes that drew him in and he needed to know more. He started researching and found two different William Murphy's one died in a knife fight, the other a war hero. Which William Murphy had he been so entranced by? 

On his journey to learn more about William Murphy he discovered so much but one thing stands out. “If there was one thing I learned, it was that this project was going to evolve and that the judgment of William Murphy is not mine. It’s in the eye of the beholder.”, Penn said on his site dedicated to his William Murphy experience. 

Penn explains more about what he discovered on his blog. If you'd like to read the rest of William Murphy's story go to http://www.thedeceptionofwilliammurphy.com/the-story/.

Penn has let us look into the eyes of celebrities and convicts and in his paintings we see something deeper than just a face. We see the emotion and sadness behind their eyes. With out artists like him we would forget that the people in his paintings were real people with real emotions and were once or still are very much alive, and for that we thank him.

If you would like to see more or Jeremy Penn's work visit http://www.jeremypenn.com/  . If you are interested in purchasing one of Mr. Penn's creations, please log in and our white glove service will be more than happy to assist you in the purchasing process.