Jack Penny explores greed and human nature in new London exhibition

The artist's latest exhibition, An Appetite That Survives All Feasts, brings humour, desire and the contradictions of human behaviour to No. 9 Cork Street.

Artist Jack Penny is presenting a new collection of paintings in London's Mayfair, exploring the seemingly endless human appetite for pleasure, success and fulfilment.

Titled An Appetite That Survives All Feasts, the exhibition is presented in collaboration with The Dot Project at No. 9 Cork Street, running from 30 October to 21 November 2026.

Through a series of expressive paintings, Penny examines the desires that shape everyday life, from relationships and ambition to the pursuit of pleasure and the experience of failure.

At the heart of the exhibition is a familiar contradiction: the tendency to pursue one ambition or experience, only to find ourselves searching for something else once it has been achieved.

The endless appetite for more

Penny's work considers consumption in its broadest sense, extending beyond food and material possessions to encompass the emotional and psychological experiences that define human existence.

Rather than presenting straightforward narratives, the artist works intuitively, drawing on memory and instinct instead of beginning with a predetermined image.

His paintings move between humour and discomfort, creating scenes that can appear playful at first glance while suggesting more complicated aspects of human behaviour.

Chefs emerge as recurring characters, offering an imaginative way to explore appetite, personality and desire.

These figures shift between the comedic and the tragic, sometimes appearing saintly and at other moments distinctly sinister.

The contrast reflects the wider themes of the exhibition, where pleasure and excess, satisfaction and longing exist alongside one another.

Paintings open to interpretation

A defining feature of Penny's approach is his reluctance to impose a single meaning on the viewer.

The paintings invite audiences to draw on their own experiences, allowing different interpretations to emerge from the same image.

This openness gives the exhibition a sense of unpredictability, with familiar human emotions presented through unusual characters and sometimes unsettling scenes.

The result is an exploration of the contradictions that accompany ambition and desire, questioning whether satisfaction is ever permanent or simply gives way to another appetite.

By combining humour with darker observations about human nature, Penny offers a perspective on the impulses that influence how people live, behave and relate to one another.

Exhibition details

An Appetite That Survives All Feasts is on display at No. 9 Cork Street, London W1S 3LL, until 21 November 2026.

Presented by Jack Penny and The Dot Project, the exhibition is available to view by appointment only.