In what is proving to be quite a few months for Summer 2021 cover artist, Danielle Mckinney, the painter just opened her first solo exhibition in Italy, Fly On the Wall, at La Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Milan. Presenting new and existing works, the exhibition is a reminder of the moody, smoky and quietly profound works that Mckinney has been producing over the last few years. They are reminders of the power of individual reflection, paintings that evoke a particular mid-century backdrop but often drift into a fantasy that time and place mean almost nothing. They are dreams but also a utopian bliss that can emulate the sound of Jazz and the poetry of the beatniks.
As the gallery notes, "Mckinney’s works originate in the exploration of the female subject. Trained as a photographer, the artist had always been practicing painting, took as the primary medium of her work since 2020, although photographic elements continue to influence her practice. The artist builds her compositions from a completely black canvas, resulting in scenes that emerge from the darkness in chiaroscuro. The starting point for her works are often images found online, in magazines, and most importantly other paintings, which Mckinney uses to analyze the nuances of gestures, colors and shapes, revisiting the tradition of model painting in a contemporary way. The found images of subjects and interiors are then collaged to make a new image."
In the next few weeks, we will report back on Mckinney, including her solo show at Marianne Boesky in NYC opening on Aprl 4, 2024.
