McKinney Arts exhibition information: “Hidden In Plain View” was curated in May 2018, featuring art by Mark McKinney.
This is the first of a series of “itinerant exhibitions,” created by McKinney Arts, which are based on real locations, but the art installations themselves are virtual in nature.
Hidden In Plain View features early works by the artist Mark McKinney from the late 1980s, including an acrylic on canvas and a series of drawings. McKinney started experimenting with this black-and-white mosaic style as a way to integrate ideas of cubism along with an attempt to make figurative images semi-abstract within the ambiguity of these flowing black-and-white shapes. The visual goal was to make an initial abstract black-and-white form which revealed specific forms upon a longer look.
The location of this itinerant virtual exhibition is an empty storefront in South Orange, NJ, which had once been a pub and restaurant for over 30 years, but closed in 2013. It caught my attention due to this odd little space indented into the front wall … perhaps it was once the location for garbage cans? Some old pictures found online show it sealed up, while others show it as a smoking area. At any rate, I liked it as a place to show art!
Art works:
Embrace, 1988
30 x 24 inch acrylic on canvas. Signed, titled, and dated on the back in ink.
The Offering, 1993
11 5/8 x 9 inch watercolor and ink on paper. Signed, titled, and dated on the back in ink.
Distant Greetings, 3/23/87
12 x 9 inch drawing with ink and marker in a bound sketchbook. Signed, titled, and dated on the back in ink.
Swing Time, 1988
22 x 30 inch watercolor and ink on paper. Signed, titled, and dated on the front in ink.
Denying Pursuit, 1991
14 5/8 x 11 inch watercolor and ink on paper. Signed, titled, and dated on the front in ink.
Disengagement, 1991
Oil on 9 1/2 x 6 inch canvas with found wood framing/collage. Signed, titled and dated on the back in ink.