Sam McKinniss

American painter

Sam McKinniss
Born	1985 (age 38–39) Northfield, Minnesota
Nationality	American
Known for	Painting
Website	sammckinniss.com

Sam McKinniss (born 1985) is an American abstract and figurative postmodern painter based in Brooklyn.^[1]

Education

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]

Work

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]

In his figurative painting, which has become the dominant practice, McKinniss works from photographs, found images as well as pictures he took.^[7] His subjects include reclining male nudes, images from popular culture, and floral still lifes.^[8] McKinniss develops a symbolist vocabulary for contemporary figurative painting; he sources material primarily from online image searching.^[9]

McKinniss has made a large number of paintings that draw on the still-lifes of the 19th-century artist Henri Fantin-Latour, for example, White Roses in a Short Glass (after Fantin-Latour).^[10] Latour’s influence on his style can be seen in the heightened colour contrasts with which he paints his figurative paintings.^[10]

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^[11] NME magazine selected the cover for their list of the best album art of the 21st century so far^[12] and it received praise from commentators at Billboard,^[13] Paste^[14] and Fuse.^[15]

Award

New Boston Fund Individual Artist Fellowship, Greater Hartford Arts Council, Hartford, Connecticut, 2009^[16]

References

^ Huggins, Kristin (March 3, 2017). "The Artist Behind Lorde's Album Cover Wanted To Capture Youth in All Its Glory". Vogue. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
^ ^a ^b ^c Prickett, Sarah Nicole (June 9, 2015). "Sam McKinniss". Interview Magazine. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
^ Tolentino, Jia (March 24, 2017). "The Artist Sam McKinniss on Capturing Lorde in the Twilight". The New Yorker. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
^ "Students - M.F.A. Studio Art - NYU Steinhardt". steinhardt.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
^ Pini, Gary (2016-10-12). "9 Must-See Art Shows Opening This Week". PAPERMAG. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
^ Irwin, Michael. "Sam McKinniss". Ocula.
^ Fateman, Johanna (January 2017). "Sam McKinniss". Artforum. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
^ Indiana, Gary (September 2019). "Claim to Fame". Artforum. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
^ Powers, Bill (October 13, 2016). "'It has to be tragic or somewhat manic-depressive': A talk with Sam McKinniss". ARTnews. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
^ ^a ^b "Egyptian Violet". teamgal.com. Team. October 2016. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
^ Eckardt, Stephanie. "The Story Behind Lorde's New Album Cover, From the Artist Who Created It". W Magazine. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
^ Milton, Jamie (20 November 2017). "The best album artwork of the 21st Century so far". NME. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
^ Cirisano, Tatiana (27 December 2017). "25 Best & Worst Album Covers of 2017". Billboard. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
^ Oshinsky, Matthew (14 December 2017). "The 40 Best Album Covers of 2017". Paste. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
^ "The Best Album Covers of 2017". Fuse. 13 December 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
^ "Greater Hartford Arts Council". www.letsgoarts.org.