John Patrick McKenzie

John Patrick McKenzie (b. 1962, Philippines) uses text for both its visual and semantic qualities, creating work that simultaneously serves as both image and poetry. McKenzie’s process is based on a complex, repetitive sequencing of calligraphy that methodically adds layers of nuance to his chosen subjects, which are most often people and objects from pop culture, current events, and his immediate surroundings. Swirling, multi­angled, and disorienting, the placement of his language comments on the contradictory, sometimes overwhelming, nature of media attention and celebrity. 

McKenzie moved to the United States with his family in 1964 and joined the Creativity Explored studio in 1989. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally (See below), and he was nominated for SFMOMA's prestigious SECA Art Award in 2012. McKenzie's drawings are included in the permanent collections of Le MADmusée, Liège, Belgium, and abcd (art brut connaissance et diffusion), Paris, France.

 See more of McKenzie's work on Artsy.