Studio Artists

John Patrick McKenzie

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John McKenzie was born in 1962 in the Philippines. McKenzie moved to the United States with his family in 1964. He currently lives in San Francisco’s Mission District and has been working at Creativity Explored since 1989.

McKenzie is a visual poet — a writer and artist creating strong visual images with words. His words are powerful statements of his inner world and his interpretation of what is occurring in the world around him. McKenzie expresses himself on paper, plexiglass, wood, glass, found objects, and furniture using markers, colored pens, watercolors, acrylics, and craypas. He has created a unique “typeface” of open and closed spaces in the letter formations, forming a signature visual style. He pays close attention to world news, and current events are often the subject of his artwork. McKenzie has large number of “fanatic devotees” and has exhibited nationally and internationally.

Selected Exhibitions

• 2008

  • Most Culture Humbug Sexy People like John Patrick McKenzie, Monster Children Gallery, Surry Hills, Australia
  • Tasty, Creativity Explored
  • one of these things does not belong, Adobe Books, San Francisco
  • Without Borders: Outsider Art in an Antipodean Context, Monash University, Australia
  • Quarter Century, Creativity Explored
  • Finders Keepers, Creativity Explored

• 2007

  • Grounded?, Southern Exposure/Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco
  • Outsider Art Fair, New York City
  • Naked, Creativity Explored
  • SF Notables Portrait Auction, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco
  • Seeing Memory, Creativity Explored
  • Shadowshine, Creativity Explored

• 2006

  • Outsider Art Fair, New York City
  • Ricco Maresca Gallery, New York City
  • SF Notables Portrait Auction, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco
  • The Beat Goes On, Creativity Explored
  • Vessels, Creativity Explored
  • Delicious, Studio Gallery, San Francisco
  • Drawing the Line, Creativity Explored

• 2004

  • Contextual, Creativity Explored
  • Radiant Spaces: Private Domain, Track 16 Gallery, Santa Monica, Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, CA
  • Functionable, Creativity Explored
  • Psst, Hey! Be Mine?, Chatterbox Gallery, San Francisco
  • Outside Insight, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA
  • Portraits…and Then Some, Embellish, San Francisco

• 2001

  • Created in California, Berenberg Gallery, Boston
  • What’s Your Story, Tanpopo-No-Ye Gallery, Nara City, Japan

• 2000

  • Artists of Creativity Explored, Friday the 13th, San Francisco
  • eMerge, Somarts Cultural Center, San Francisco
  • Administrative Offices, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco

• 1999

  • Drawings, Mark Moore Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
  • Whipper Snapper Nerd, Mark Moore Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
  • Whipper Snapper Nerd, Bronwyn Keenan Gallery, New York, NY
  • Creativity Explored, Ballazo Gallery, San Francisco, CA

• 1998

  • Project Home Mural, San Francisco, CA
  • Whipper Snapper Nerd, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA

Publications

• 2006

  • PLOS
  • Dwell Magazine

• 2004

  • “Radiant Spaces: Private Domain”, Smart Art Press

• 2000

  • Plasma Magazine, featured artist, Summer

• 1999

  • “Renegade Art”, Christa Palmer, Metro Active Arts, August 2, 1999
  • “Whipper Snapper Nerd”, Doug Harvey, Art Issues, March /April 1999

• 1995

  • “Whipper Snapper Nerd”, Issue number three, March 1995