I have been a painter my whole life. I paint the way I see life—aware of layers upon layers of the complexities that comprise consciousness.
It is the exhilarating and exhausting act of painting, the ‘doing’ of it that motivates me. When I paint, I lose all sense of time. I’m not making a statement or crafting a message. I’m composing an experience of color, form, and especially light. My paintings are physical representations of the life around me, the people around me, but they are at the same time deeply personal reflections of my own life and my interaction with my subjects.
I would like people who view my work to connect to me, my paintings, and my subjects straightforwardly and without prejudice. I'd like them to be aware of the hundreds of hours of work behind each painting, and the time it takes an artist and a model to develop a relationship that makes a painting possible. In a world that is neither honest nor simple, I’d like viewers of my work to see life as I see it, unclouded by agenda, moment by moment, and one stroke at a time.
Self Portrait (Studio Wall)
Collection of Allen Memorial Art Museum - Oberlin College
Education
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Cooper School of Art, Cleveland
National Academy of Design, NYC
Art Students League, NYC
Studied with Robert Philipp, Robert Brackman, Jose Cintron, Daniel Greene, Burton Silverman
Museum Collections
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Modern and Contemporary Art Collection
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Drawings and Prints Collection
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, N.Y.
New York Historical Society, New York
Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
Museum of the City of New York
National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C.
New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut
National Academy Museum, New York
Art Students League of New York, Permanent Collection
Dayton Art Institute, Permanent Collection
Delaware Art Museum, Permanent Collection
Toledo Museum of Art, Permanent Collection
Figge Art Museum, Davenport, IA
Erie Art Museum, Erie, PA, Permanent Collection
Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, OH
Selected Solo Exhibitions
Mary Beth McKenzie: A Life In Art, Erie Art Museum, Erie, PA 2018
The Tomasulo Gallery, Union County College, N.J. 1998
Joseph Keiffer Gallery, NYC 1991
Frank Caro Gallery, NYC 1988-89
FAR Gallery, NYC 1980
National Arts Club, NYC 1976
Selected Group Exhibitions
Contrary Bodies, Toledo Museum of Art (in Conjunction with Toledo University), April - July, 2022
Portrait of the Artist, The Hunterdon Art Museum, NJ January - April, 2022
Recent Acquisitions and Old Friends, Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College, August 3, 2021 - June 12, 2022
Artist’s Gaze: Seeing Women in the 21st Century Sirona Fine Art, Hallandale Beach, FL, 2015
Annual Spring Flair, Alex Adam Gallery, NYC 2014
Drawings and Prints Selections from the Permanent Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2012
The Figure in Contemporary Art, ACA Galleries, NYC 2010
Inspiring Figures: American Women in Figurative Art . Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, O.H. 2010
Monotype, Sketch, and Plate, Johnson Gallery for Exhibitions Prints and Drawings, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009
Artists and Monitors, Alex Adam Gallery, NYC, 2009
Recent Acquisitions, National Academy Museum, NYC, 2004
Honoring Women, New York Historical Society, 2004
Challenging Tradition: Women of the Academy 1826-2003, National Academy Museum, NYC, 2003
Looking At You: Self Portrait Exhibition, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001
History and Highlights, National Academy Museum, NYC 1998
Works on Paper: McDonnel & McKenzie, R.H. Love Gallery, Chicago 1998
Contemporary Prints, Forum Gallery, NYC 1986
Monotypes, Weintraub Gallery, NYC 1984
Selected Awards
Thomas B. Clarke Prize, National Academy of Design Annual
Stacey Foundation Grant, New Mexico
Greenshields Foundation Grant, Canada
Edward Mooney Traveling Scholarship, National Academy of Design
Magazine Articles
International Artist Magazine
June/July 2011
A Day in the Life of an Artist: Mary Beth McKenzie
by Wendy Corporale
The Artist's MagazineSeptember 2006
Special Section: The Figure, Winter Light
by Maureen Bloomfield
Books
A Painterly Approach
October 1987
by Mary Beth McKenzie
In this provocative, intelligent book for intermediate and advanced artists, a noted painter describes her approach to art and shows how it works in three mediums: oil, pastel, and monotype. Defining "painterly" as working in a broader, more abstract way, dealing with the entire canvas and not just with parts of it, she shows how she makes forms happen with color and brushwork so that a painting develops as a whole.
McKenzie's ideas are thoughtful and clearly stated, complemented by her beautiful paintings. Step-by-step demonstrations—a portrait in pastel, a figure and a portrait in oil, and a still life in monotype—illustrate her working methods. A Painterly Approach is a book that will inspire artists to change their thinking and approach.
Art Students League of New York on Painting: Lessons and Meditations on Mediums, Styles, and Methods
November 2015
This unique book brings you into the studio classrooms of some of the League’s most celebrated painters—including William Scharf, Mary Beth McKenzie, Henry Finkelstein, and Knox Martin—for lessons on a variety of fundamental topics, idiosyncratic approaches, and quirky philosophies.
Ms. McKenzie describes her painting philosophy and includes a painting demonstration along with images of her work.
