Marykate O’Neil
don’t quit smoking
October 29th – November 16th, 2024
Opening Reception: Tuesday, October 29th
6:00pm – 8:00pm
“Marykate O’Neil’s paintings speak to her aesthetic of solitude in the digital age…I stood for a moment at her painting and felt represented” — Hyperallergic
Marykate O’Neil (b.1968, Hudson Massachusetts) is a multidisciplinary artist, living in Weehawken, NJ, whose practice moves from songwriting to painting to collage; the subject matter dictates the medium. Marykate’s paintings have been featured in solo and group juried shows in NYC, LA, Boston and Nashville, including exhibits curated by the Zurcher Gallery, the Art Student’s League of New York, the Wild Project, Blue Mountain Gallery, Manhattanville College, Columbia University as well as several online project spaces. In addition to painting, Marykate is a critically acclaimed indie-pop songwriter, who has released six albums and performed throughout the U.S. and Europe; her songs have been featured in movies and television. “A true original, Marykate has crafted a style with humor and irony intact anchored in daily life” Rolling Stone. Marykate’s painting practice is closely related to her music, “The more I paint, I feel like my paintings look like my songs sound. In both arenas, I am drawn to small everyday moments that stick to you – the ones where contradictions sit comfortably side by side each other.” Marykate has studied painting at the Art Student’s League of New York, the New York Studio School, Parsons and Mass Art.
“I don’t smoke and never have but the title, ‘don’t quit smoking’ is a way of saying, subvert the dominant paradigm; don’t conform; think for yourself; commit small acts of rebellion. Cigarettes once symbolized countercultural thinking. I think we all could use more of that these days.” Marykate’s work is colorful, thick with texture, layered, and often left of center in its humor. She has an intuitive sense that is often simultaneously representational and expressionistic with a focus on the metaphorical in our everyday world.