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Almine Rech

Sam McKinniss Neverland

Jan 10 — Mar 2, 2019 | Brussels
Inquire about the exhibition: inquiries@alminerech.com

Almine Rech is pleased to present 'Neverland', the first solo show by the Brooklyn based painter Sam McKinniss with the gallery. 

Once upon a time, painting died. Hers was not a tragic death, she faded slowly—sputtering and flickering into her goodnight, shrouded in myth. While the whole story is terribly complicated, it boils down to the tale of a maiden whose life-force was eclipsed by a new-fangled monster: photography. But just like all fairytales or soap operas, no one ever really dies. Renewal, rebirth, rehab…it’s all just part and parcel to the genre. 

Fast forward to the 1990’s. Painting had arisen from her tomb, suddenly, her eternal spirit summoned by a cadre of artists that dared to put oil to canvas. Ditching their cameras, these anachronistic fetishists instead painted from photographs. But if “Painting is painting’s favorite food,” as the wise Asger Jorn once said, it must have been that nobody had any paintings to snack on. Rather than starve, these artists looted the cookie jars of mass media: People, The New York Post, SPIN magazine, and other sundry tabloids. 

Then the internet happened. A twenty-first century figure, Sam McKinniss was spared all the drama of centuries past. Liberated from these historical squabbles around painting’s primacy or lack of legitimacy, he came of age as an artist with unfettered relationships to his medium and celebrity worship, enabled by this other monster called “Google.” If portraiture has always been about power, then McKinniss is the first artist since Peyton to convincingly merge "the singularity, preciousness, and longevity of the painted picture” with the ephemeral celebrity of his subjects, creating an oil-on-canvas fairytale of our present age.  

McKinniss has emerged as a neo-Magical Realist, combining “the actual and the uncanny,” transfiguring the reality of the internet age into his depiction of our contemporary “Neverland.”

- Alison M. Gingeras

Press release

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Selected artworks

  • Sam McKinniss,                                      The Little Mermaid, 2018

    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,                                      Clownfish, 2018

    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,                                      Clownfish II, 2018

    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,                                      Ranch Life, 2018

    Sam McKinniss Ranch Life, 2018

    30 colored pencil drawings on paper
    30,5 x 22,9 (each) cm
    12 x 9 inches

  • Sam McKinniss,                                      Madonna, 2018

    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,                                      Fairy Roses (after Fantin-Latour), 2018

    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,                                      Marilyn, 2018

    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,                                      White Roses (after Fantin-Latour), 2018

    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,                                      Aretha, 2018

    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,                                      Michael, 2018

    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,                                      Still Life with Primroses, Pears and Promenates (after Fantin-Latour), 2018

    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,                                      Diana (on Jonikal), 2018

    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,                                      Diana, 2018

    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,                                      The Terminator, 2018

    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,                                      White Cup and Saucer (after Fantin-Latour), 2018

    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,                                      Jennifer, 2018

    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,                                      Tyra, 2015-2018

    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,                                      Alice, 2018

    Sam McKinniss Alice, 2018

    Oil over acrylic on canvas
    40,6 x 30,5 x 2,5 cm
    16 x 12 x 1 inches