Sam McKinniss (b. 1985, Northfield, Minnesota) is an artist living and working in New York City and Kent, Connecticut. His figurative paintings are most often sourced from popular culture, the entertainment industry, sports, and the internet. He is inspired by narratives focusing on romance, celebrity, tragedy, the inevitable destruction of innocence in contemporary American life. In a 2019 Artforum cover story featuring McKinniss, the novelist and critic Gary Indiana writes, “Sam’s recent paintings suggest a deft, saturnine, facetiously sincere autobiography of taste and tastelessness that reveals less about the artist than the spectator, though in this case, the artist is spectator, too. These paintings…are really unlikely things, samples from the blazing horror vacui we inhabit as alleged global citizens, ergo very familiar, but suffused with pathos, even suffering, as well as flash and comic incongruity.” McKinniss’s paintings have recently been on view at JTT in New York, Jeffrey Deitch in Los Angeles, and currently included in the group exhibition Pictus Porrectus: Reconsidering the Full Length Portrait, curated by Alison M. Gingeras and Dodie Kazanjian for Art&Newport in Newport, Rhode Island.
Sam McKinniss
-
Sam McKinniss, Lil Nas X with Friends and Cops, 2021
Oil on linen
182.9 x 121.9 x 3.2 cm
72 x 48 x 1 1/4 in -
Sam McKinniss, Shania Twain’s Horse 2, 2021
Oil on linen
213.4 x 182.9 cm
84 x 72 in -
Sam McKinniss, Elvira, 2021
Oil on linen
112 x 213.5 cm
44 x 84 in -
Sam McKinniss, Dolly Parton, 2021
Oil on linen
127 x 122 cm
50 x 48 in -
Sam McKinniss, Nashville, 2021
Oil and acrylic on linen
28 x 35.5 cm
11 x 14 in -
Sam McKinniss, Lake McDonald, 2021
Oil and acrylic on linen
244 x 213.5 cm
96 x 84 in -
Sam McKinniss, Grand Canyon, 2021
Oil on linen
58.4 x 137.2 x 2.5 cm
23 x 54 x 1 in -
Sam McKinniss, Willie Nelson, 2021
Oil on linen
40.6 x 30.5 cm
16 x 12 in -
Sam McKinniss, Merry Christmas, Mariah Carey, 2021
Oil on linen
25.4 x 20.3 cm
10 x 8 in -
Sam McKinniss, Lyle Lovett, 2021
Oil on linen
35.6 x 27.9 cm
14 x 11 in -
Sam McKinniss, White Roses (after Fantin-Latour), 2018
Oil over acrylic on canvas
50,8 x 40,6 x 2,5 cm
20 x 16 x 1 inches -
Sam McKinniss, Madonna, 2018
Oil over acrylic on canvas
40,6 x 30,5 x 2,5 cm
16 x 12 x 1 inches -
Sam McKinniss, Michael, 2018
Oil over acrylic on canvas
25,4 x 20,3 x 2,5 cm
10 x 8 x 1 inches -
Sam McKinniss, Ranch Life, 2018
30 colored pencil drawings on paper
30,5 x 22,9 (each) cm
12 x 9 inches -
Sam McKinniss, Aretha, 2018
Oil over acrylic on canvas
22,9 x 30,5 x 2,5 cm
9 x 12 x 1 inches -
Sam McKinniss, Diana (on Jonikal), 2018
Oil over acrylic on canvas
27,9 x 35,6 x 2,5 cm
11 x 14 x 1 inches -
Sam McKinniss, Clownfish, 2018
Oil over acrylic on canvas
27,9 x 35,6 x 2,5 cm
11 x 14 x 1 inches -
Sam McKinniss, The Little Mermaid, 2018
Oil over acrylic on canvas
45,7 x 35,6 x 2,5 cm
18 x 14 x 1 inches -
Sam McKinniss, Still Life with Primroses, Pears and Promenates (after Fantin-Latour), 2018
Oil over acrylic on canvas
76,2 x 61 x 2,5 cm
30 x 24 x 1 inches -
Sam McKinniss, Tyra, 2015-2018
Oil on canvas
142,2 x 91,4 x 2,5 cm
56 x 36 x 1 inches -
Sam McKinniss, The Terminator, 2018
Oil over acrylic on canvas
182,9 x 152,4 x 2,5 cm
72 x 60 x 1 inches -
Sam McKinniss, Clownfish II, 2018
Oil over acrylic on canvas
27,9 x 35,6 x 2,5 cm
11 x 14 x 1 inches -
Sam McKinniss, Diana, 2018
Oil over acrylic on canvas
243,8 x 182,9 x 2,5 cm
96 x 72 x 1 inches -
Sam McKinniss, Jennifer, 2018
Oil over acrylic on canvas
213,4 x 152,4 x 2,5 cm
84 x 60 x 1 inches -
Sam McKinniss, Marilyn, 2018
Oil over acrylic on canvas
91,4 x 76,2 x 2,5 cm
36 x 30 x 1 inches -
Sam McKinniss, Alice, 2018
Oil over acrylic on canvas
40,6 x 30,5 x 2,5 cm
16 x 12 x 1 inches -
Sam McKinniss, Fairy Roses (after Fantin-Latour), 2018
Oil over acrylic on canvas
50,8 x 40,6 x 2,5 cm
20 x 16 x 1 inches -
Sam McKinniss, White Cup and Saucer (after Fantin-Latour), 2018
Oil over acrylic on canvas
22,9 x 30,5 x 2,5 cm
9 x 12 x 1 inches -
Sam McKinniss, Tammy Wynette, 2021
Oil on linen
76.2 x 61 cm
30 x 24 in -
Sam McKinniss, Dolly Parton with kitten, 2021
Oil on linen
61 x 45.7 cm
24 x 18 in -
Sam McKinniss, Shania Twain's Horse 1, 2021
Oil on linen
35.6 x 45.7 cm
14 x 18 in
Exhibitions
Selected press
- 'How Many People Does it Take to Make Art Work?', Nate Freeman in GARAGE, April 26, 2020 — 13.7 MB
- 'CLAIM TO FAME' by Gary Indiana, ARTFORUM, September 2019 — 3.1 MB
- 'FAMOUS FEELINGS WITH PAINTER SAM MCKINNISS', Thora Siemsen, SSENSE, February 2019 — 3.0 MB
- 'Sam McKinniss, Neverland, Almine Rech Gallery, Brussel', KNACK, January 2019 — 84.5 kB