Michael Jones McKean
Encyclopedia
Michael Jones McKean is an American artist. He is known primarily for his large-scale sculptural installations dealing with issues of narration, complexity, representation, materiality and failure.
(formally Truk Island) in Micronesia
on March 2, 1976. McKean’s family moved to the United States in the late 1970s settling in Arden, Delaware
. McKean attended Marywood University
, a small liberal arts college in Scranton, Pennsylvania where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2000. Two years later he received his Master of Fine Arts from Alfred University
in Western New York State.
McKean was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship
in 2010. McKean has also been awarded grants and residencies from the Nancy Graves Foundation, the Artadia Foundation, the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center
, the International Studio and Curatorial Program, The Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, the Archie Bray Foundation and The Core Program at the Glassell School/Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Since 2006 he has been an Assistant Professor in the Sculpture and Extended Media Department at Virginia Commonwealth University
.
McKean’s work is represented by Horton Gallery in New York City and Gentili Apri in Berlin, Germany.
Biography
Michael Jones McKean was born on Chuuk IslandChuuk
Chuuk — formerly Truk, Ruk, Hogoleu, Torres, Ugulat, and Lugulus — is an island group in the south western part of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia , along with Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap. Chuuk is the most populous of the FSM's...
(formally Truk Island) in Micronesia
Micronesia
Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It is distinct from Melanesia to the south, and Polynesia to the east. The Philippines lie to the west, and Indonesia to the southwest....
on March 2, 1976. McKean’s family moved to the United States in the late 1970s settling in Arden, Delaware
Arden, Delaware
Arden is a village and art colony in New Castle County, Delaware, in the United States, founded in 1900 as a radical Georgist single-tax community by sculptor Frank Stephens and architect Will Price. The village occupies about 160 acres, with half kept as open land. According to the 2010 Census,...
. McKean attended Marywood University
Marywood University
Marywood University is a selective, coeducational, Catholic liberal arts university located on a campus in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Established in 1915 by the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and currently enrolls approximately 3,500 students on a national award-winning campus...
, a small liberal arts college in Scranton, Pennsylvania where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2000. Two years later he received his Master of Fine Arts from Alfred University
Alfred University
Alfred University is a small, comprehensive university in the Village of Alfred in Western New York, USA, an hour and a half south of Rochester and two hours southeast of Buffalo. Alfred has an undergraduate population of around 2,000, and approximately 300 graduate students...
in Western New York State.
McKean was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
in 2010. McKean has also been awarded grants and residencies from the Nancy Graves Foundation, the Artadia Foundation, the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center
Fine Arts Work Center
The Fine Arts Work Center is a non-profit enterprise devoted to encouraging the growth and development of emerging visual artists and writers through residency programs, to the propagation of aesthetic values and experience, and to the restoration of the year-round vitality of the historic art...
, the International Studio and Curatorial Program, The Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, the Archie Bray Foundation and The Core Program at the Glassell School/Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Since 2006 he has been an Assistant Professor in the Sculpture and Extended Media Department at Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University is a public university located in Richmond, Virginia. It comprises two campuses in the Downtown Richmond area, the product of a merger between the Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia in 1968...
.
McKean’s work is represented by Horton Gallery in New York City and Gentili Apri in Berlin, Germany.