Sam McKinniss

Sam McKinniss was born in Minnesota[2] and grew up in Connecticut.[3] He graduated from the Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, Scotland in 2005. He received a BFA in painting from the Hartford Art School in Hartford, Connecticut in 2007, and an MFA from the Steinhardt School at New York University in 2013.[4]

McKinniss's work has been shown in galleries and museums since 2005. His first solo show in New York, entitled "Black Leather Sectional," opened at Joe Sheftel Gallery in May 2015 and his first solo show in Los Angeles, "Dear Metal Thing," opened at Team Bungalow in June 2015.[2] His show "Egyptian Violet" opened at Team Gallery in New York in October 2016.[5] He made his first appearance at the Miami edition of the international art fair Art Basel in 2015.[6]

McKinniss paints in two distinct but complementary practices: representational works which are both seductive and funereal; and grey-scale abstractions. The two styles provide tension and counterpoint within his oeuvre.

In his figurative painting, which has become the dominant practice, McKinniss works from photographs, found images as well as pictures he took. His subjects include reclining male nudes, floral still lifes, and images from popular culture. McKinniss develops a symbolist vocabulary for contemporary figurative painting; he sources material primarily from online image searching.[7] He has painted a wide range of celebrities including Diana Princess of Wales, Prince, Tyra Banks, Whitney Houston, Madonna and Lil' Kim, as well as fictional film and television characters such as Edward Scissorhands, Catwoman, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Sam McKinniss, White Roses in a Short Glass (after Fantin-Latour), 2016, oil and acrylic on canvas, 9" x 12"

McKinniss is interested in moments of unexpected emotional conflict, aggression and sexuality, defensiveness and vulnerability, pathos and humor. Seemingly disparate pop cultural icons are portrayed without cynicism in the artist's fluent painterly style.

McKinniss' work is influenced by a number of eras in the history of painting, from the Baroque and Mannerist to Imagism and Abstract Expressionism.

Of particular importance to McKinniss' practice are the works of Henri Fantin-Latour, a figurative French painter of the 19th Century who is known for his floral still-lifes. McKinniss has made a large number of paintings with titles that include ‘after Fantin-Latour.’ These works by McKinniss are studies of the 19th-century painter's still-lifes. For example, see a painting from 2016, "White Roses in a Short Glass (after Fantin-Latour)".

Both McKinniss' and Fantin-Latour's work seeks to access and distill the magic and pathos of Symbolism while limiting themselves to the knowable world: each is at once consumer and creator, curator and originator, spectator and carnivore. Fantin-Latour represents for McKinniss something close to perfection in paint, the apogee of particular skills and sensitivities.[8] McKinniss’s embrace of Fantin-Latour demonstrates his respect of history and tradition in painting.[8] Fantin-Latour’s influence on McKinniss' style can be seen in the heightened color contrasts with which McKinniss uses in his painting.

McKinniss painted a series of "men in repose" for the second issue of Adult.[2] His painting of Lorde was the cover art of her 2017 album Melodrama[9] NME magazine selected the cover for their list of the best album art of the 21st century so far[10] and it received praise from commentators at Billboard,[11] Paste[12] and Fuse.[13]

• New Boston Fund Individual Artist Fellowship, Greater Hartford Arts Council, Hartford, Connecticut, 2009[20]

• Indiana, Gary (September 2019). "Claim to Fame: Gary Indiana on the art of Sam McKinniss". Artforum.
• Jen, Alex (February 14, 2019). "The Artist Sam McKinniss on Capturing Lorde in the Twilight". The Brooklyn Rail.
• Eckardt, Stephanie (February 2, 2019). "Your Favorite Google Images Are Now Paintings, Thanks to the Artist Sam McKinniss". W Magazine.
• Eckardt, Stephanie (December 14, 2017). "In the Studio with Sam McKinniss, the Unapologetic Painter of 'Perverted" Internet Culture'". W Magazine.
• Tolentino, Jia (March 24, 2017). "The Artist Sam McKinniss on Capturing Lorde in the Twilight". The New Yorker.
• Yerebakan, Osman (February 3, 2017). "Purple Reign". Cultured.
• Fateman, Johanna (January 2017). "Sam McKinniss" (pdf). Artforum.
• "Sam McKinniss: The Artist on his new Paintings" (pdf). Modern Painters. October–November 2016.
• Colucci, Emily (October 21, 2016). "Bathing In The Purple Rain At Sam McKinniss' 'Egyptian Violet'". Art F City.
• Droitcour, Brian (October 20, 2016). "Sam McKinniss". Art in America.

• Artist's website
• Profile on Ocula