Danielle Mckinney

Danielle Mckinney, born in 1981 in Montgomery, Alabama, is a painter based in Jersey City, New Jersey. Her works feature Black female protagonists posed in domestic spaces, captured in a moment of introspection and respite—in what she herself describes as “a worldly tension.” Captivating the viewer with her intimate portrayals of figures immersed in elusive narratives and rich, painterly brushstrokes, Mckinney has emerged as one of the most exciting artists in recent memory.

Mckinney’s practice is informed by a diverse array of art historical predecessors—whose works often featured in Mckinney’s interior scenes—that resonate with her pursuit of painting the delicate emotional pull of the human experience. Her compositions evoke masters like Henri Matisse or Edward Hopper in their graceful configuration and tender vantage point; trained as a photographer, Mckinney intuitively understands the power of perspectives and crafts compositions charged with a certain lyrical cinematography. Her paintings, in their supple and gentle brushwork, open opportunities for both painted subject and viewer to engage in contemplative reflection.

The artist has found her works notably featured in solo exhibitions such as About a moment - in a moment at Kunsthal n, Copenhagen, and Fly on the Wall at Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, while also showing in group exhibitions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Columbus Museum of Art, the Dallas Museum of Art, Kunstmuseum Basel, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, and more. Her works are collected by prestigious institutional collections including the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C., and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.