Mark Gerard McKee was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He has exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally and his works are in national, corporate and public collections. He earned his Master’s in Fine Art from Lesley University College of Art and Design and attended the Lyme Academy – College of Fine Arts, earning a BFA and receiving that institution’s highest award. McKee is a fellow of the International Master’s Artist Residency post-graduate fellowship residency of the School of Visual Arts in New York.
McKee has participated in artist residencies including Vermont Studios and the Bulgarian - American Exchange Program. McKee taught art history and studio art courses and seminars in Connecticut at Eastern Connecticut State University, University of Connecticut, the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, Mitchell College and in Dublin, Ireland at the National Academy College of Art and Design.
McKee has taught Studio Arts courses, seminars and workshops as well as Art History in Connecticut at Eastern Connecticut State University, the University of Connecticut, Rhode Island School of Design, Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, Mitchell College, and in Dublin, Ireland at the National Academy College of Art and Design. He has participated in artist residencies including Vermont Studios and the Bulgarian - American Exchange Program
Engaging Space - Liriodendrum Installation Link
Access and Ambiguity Installation Link
Statement
My work resides at the intersection of seeing and perceiving, where the experiences of making art meet those of lived body and memory. As an artist, that is, in seeing as an artist, the mediums of art, and their qualities are now mirrored in the qualities of things; things which, along with the processes of art-making must also include the artist’s memories and the events which give rise to those memories. Likewise, seeing and memory take on the qualities of the medium, just as seeing and memory are realized through that medium.
As an artist who has found himself drawn with increasing fascination to existential big picture concepts, my more recent creative focus is to explore that larger reality from the perspective of a conscious, self-aware entity who must engage with that universe at a material level. While my field of interest is solidly grounded in the studio arts of drawing and painting, I am fascinated with the material nature of these disciplines, as well as in nontraditional materials and sculptural elements. Thus, in addition to paint, my work includes found objects, bits and pieces, old sheet metals, recycled textiles, even concrete and other construction materials, in addition to ready-made elements.
For me, art and its making is a means of knowing the world. It is not simply about the art itself, but also about the process of its making. Each work, every painting, drawing, mixed media or installation is an evolving and expanding process, and as such is a means of negotiating, exploring and engaging with the world. Seeing and memory are elements of that means. These elements fit into the structure of a greater realm of inquiry – one that both explores and marvels at those capacities, perceptions, conditions and events that identify us as thinking and experiencing entities. For me, art and its making is a means of knowing the world. It is not simply about the art itself, but also about the process of its making. Making is a primal thing, primordially encoded in our DNA, and Homo Sapiens, we the art makers, are both progenitors and legacy.
Engaging Space - Liriodendrum Installation
Access and Ambiguity Installation
Artworks ©2023 Mark Gerard McKee. All images contained herein are the sole property of the artist. Reproduction in whole or any part thereof is strictly prohibited without the expressed written consent of the artist. This includes any and all Artificial Intelligence (AI generated art) platforms.