Biography and Résumé
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A painterly Peter
Sellers, Mencher's works are like the film "Being There." Mencher
likes to watch.
Citing literature,
television, film, and stage drama, as major influence's on his work, Mencher’s
objective is to present a figurative composition divorced from its context
that forces viewers to create their own interpretation of the narrative.
By combining calligraphic gestural brushstrokes with passages of tight
traditional glazing techniques, Mencher's work explores the thread of human
connection that is woven into our experiences. Collaged from posed
photographs and pop-culture, Mencher's paintings are frozen moments in
a play. Sometimes these moments are outrageous or surreal and the
figures in his paintings are character actors caught up in the action.
William Wisner writes,
Realist in
execution like a Zola novel, the subjects of Mencher's work hold coffee
cups sit in leather chairs, make confessions and declare intentions, but
the silence of the paint leaves us only a visual trace as to what's being
said and what understandings are being clarified. As you look at
Mencher's art you are reminded of your own lost moments- the people you
should have comforted, but didn't; the lover you trusted who stopped returning
your calls; the companion at work who quietly knifed you in committee and
then cheerfully chatted you up at the coffee break. Humble stuff,
average people making average choices. . .
Originally from
New York, NY, Kenney Mencher earned a BA and MA in Art History from City
University of New York and University of California, Davis, respectively,
following which he went on to obtain a MFA in painting from the University
of Cincinnati in Ohio. He has taught at a number of institutions including
the University of Chicago and Texas A&M University, and now teaches
at Ohlone College in Fremont, California. He is the author of a text book
Liaisons:
Readings in Art, Literature and Philosophy. His exposure via solo
and group exhibitions is extensive nationwide.
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Resume:
KENNEY MENCHER
kmencher@ohlone.edu
http://www.kenney-mencher.com/
EDUCATION
1993-1995
University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
MFA Painting
1991-1994 University
of California, Davis, CA
MA Art History -Thesis
Title:
"Vampires, the Audiences
they Consume."
1988-1991 City University
of New York, Bronx, NY
Magna Cum Laude; BA
Art History
1985-1986 University
of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
& Spring 1988
1981-1985 Art Students'
League, Manhattan, NY
1978-1982 Art &
Design High School, Manhattan, NY
EMPLOYMENT
1999-Present
Associate
Professor of Art & Art History, Ohlone College, Fremont, California
1998-1999 Instructor
of Art History & Western Civilization,
San Francisco University
High School
1996-1998 Assistant
Professor of Art & Art History, Texas A&M University, Laredo,
TX
1995-1996 Curator
of Visual Resources, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
1995-1996 Adjunct
Instructor, University of Chicago, IL
EXHIBITIONS: Solo and
Two Person
2009
ArtHaus Gallery, San Francisco, CA In Black and White
2009
Dahlia Woods Gallery, Dallas, Texas
Cool
Shades, Kenney Mencher and Linda Sheets
2008
Art Museum of Los Gatos, California Sex, Politics and Misogyny Peter Langenbach
and Kenney Mencher
2008
Sequential Art Gallery, Portland, Oregon
Cads
and Coquettes
(Solo)
2008
Varnish Fine Art, San Francisco, California
Lovers
and Liars
(Solo)
2007
Elliott Fouts Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Faces
and Farces
(Solo)
2007
Dahlia Woods Gallery, Dallas, Texas
The
Return of the Maltese Falcon
(Solo)
2007
Gallery 2611, Redwood City, California
Clichés
and Characters
(Solo)
2006
Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Kenney
Mencher: Recent Work
(Solo)
2006
Elliott Fouts Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Apperceptions
and Allegories
(Solo)
2006
Norton Studio Gallery, Pacific Art League, Palo Alto, CA
Being
There
(Solo)
2006 Esteban
Sabar Gallery, Oakland, CA
Similes and Sayings
(Solo Show)
2006 Boehm Gallery,
Palomar College, San Marcos, CA
Mixed Metaphors
(Solo Show)
2005 Dig Fine
Art, Providence, RI
Clichés
& Proverbs
(Solo Show)
2005 Elliott Fouts
Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Hamlettes on Wry
(Solo Show)
2005 Mountain View
Center for the Performing Arts, Mountain View, CA
(Solo Show)
2004 Louie-Meager Art
Gallery, Gary Soren Smith Center, Ohlone College, CA
Dress Code
(Solo Show)
2004 STRS Gallery,
Sacramento, CA
2002 Louie Art
Gallery, Ohlone College, Fremont, CA
Too Knew: Kathryn
Frank and Kenney Mencher
2001 Craighead-Green,
Dallas, TX
Kenney Mencher
and Connie Connally
1997 Laredo Community
College, Laredo, TX
Art Department Teaching
Gallery
Relationships
(Solo Show)
1997 Laredo Center
for the Arts, Laredo, TX
Noir Images
(Solo Show)
1994 Brody Gallery,
University of Cincinnati, OH
Androgynous Paintings
of V.
(Solo Show)
1993 Garden Gallery,
Sacramento, CA
California Landscapes
(Solo Show)
EXHIBITIONS:
GROUP
2010 Elliott
Fouts Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Go Figure
2010 ArtHaus Gallery,
San Francisco, California,
Resurgence
2008 ArtHaus Gallery,
San Francisco,
California Figurative
Works by Gallery and Guest Artists
2007 Klaudia Marr,
Santa Fe, NM 14th
14th Annual Realism
Invitational 2007
2006 Klaudia Marr,
Santa Fe, NM
13th Annual
Realism Invitational
2006 Triton Art
Museum, Santa Clara, CA
Beyond the Likeness:
Self Portraits by California Artists
2006 Isadore
Gallery, Lancaster, PA
The
Go Figure Show: Artistic Interpretation of Figure Elements
2005 Klaudia Marr,
Santa Fe, NM
12th Annual
Realism Invitational
2005 Blue Line
Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Grand Opening
Group Show
2004 Craighead-Green,
Dallas, TX
2004 Red Ink
Studio, San Jose, CA
2003 Hang Gallery Palo
Alto, CA
One More Thing
Before I Go
2003 Hang Gallery San
Francisco, CA
Can't Sleep
2002 Hang Gallery
San Francisco, CA
Small Works
2002 The Canvas Gallery,
San Francisco, CA
The View from Here:
Anna Conti, Joel Tarbox and Kenney Mencher
2002 Period Gallery,
Omaha, NE
Painting
2002 Period Gallery,
Omaha, NE
Faces
2001 Craighead-Green
Gallery, Dallas TX
Connie Connaly
and Kenney Mencher
2001 Hang Gallery,
San Francisco, CA
The Figurative
Show
2000 Bryant Gallery,
Jackson, MI
Works on Consignment
2000 Jenkins-Johnson
Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Small Works
2000 Hanson Gallery,
Knoxsville, TN
Faces and Figures
1999 Jenkins-Johnson
Gallery, San Francisco, CA
First Annual Realism
Invitational
1999 Craighead/Green
Gallery, Dallas TX
Consignment Works
1999 Jenkins-Johnson
Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Anniversary Group
Exhibition
1998 Jenkins-Johnson
Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Small Works
1998 Jenkins-Johnson
Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Nancy Switzer,
Milt Kobayashi, and Kenney Mencher
1998 Craighead/Green
Gallery, Dallas TX
Consignment Works
1998 Craighead/Green
Gallery, Dallas TX
Michael Magovoro
and Kenney Mencher
1998 Primary Object
Gallery, San Antonio, TX
1996 Martin Rathburn
Gallery, San Antonio, TX
Ron Hoover, Katie
Pell and Kenney Mencher
1995 Tangeman Center
Gallery, University of Cincinnati, OH
Thesis Exhibit
1994 Mason Fine Art
Gallery, Mason, OH
Jan Brown Checco,
Ken Landon Buck,
Irwin Greenburg,
and Kenney Mencher
1994 KZF Gallery, Cincinnati,
OH
Manmade and Natural
Landscapes
1994 Zephyr Gallery,
Louisville, KY
Consignment Artists
Show
1994 Semantics Gallery,
Cincinnati, OH
Burrell, Simmons,
& Mencher
1994 840 Gallery, University
of Cincinnati, OH
The Innocent Eye
Test
1993 Davis Art Center,
Davis, CA
1992 Images Gallery,
San Francisco, CA
1990 The National Arts
Club, Manhattan, NY
Fifteenth Annual Student
Exhibition
Honorable Mention
1986 Arts Consortium
Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
Monumental Still
Life Drawings
1986 Chidlaw Gallery,
Art Academy, Cincinnati, OH
Show in honor of scholarship
recipients
LECTURES &
PAPERS DELIVERED
2006
Pacific Art League, Palo Alto, CA
The
Figurative Tradition and Realism
2003 Hang Gallery San
Francisco, CA
Can't Sleep
2002 Hang Gallery
Painting
1999 Guest Lecturer,
Sacred Heart High School
St. Peter's Cathedral
1999 Guest Lecturer,
Sacred Heart High School
Constantine and Early
Christianity
1998 Guest Lecturer,
Sacred Heart High School
Monasticism/Scholasticism/Catholicism
1997 Laredo Rotary
Pompeii as an Artifact
of Civic Pride
1996 Guest Lecturer,
Classics Week, Texas A&M University,
"A Brief Tour of the
Acropolis"
1993 Guest lecturer,
University of California, Davis, CA
"Mannerism and Architecture"
1992 Guest lecturer,
University of California, Davis, CA
"Art as Ideology"
AWARDS
1993-1995
Full Tuition Scholarship, University of Cincinnati OH
1991 Departmental Honors:Art,
Lehman College, Bronx, NY
1991 Geldwerth Scholarship,
Lehman College, Bronx, NY
1990 Jacob Hammer Memorial
Award in Playwriting
English Dept. Lehman
College, Bronx, NY
1990 Raymond J. Sontag
Prize History Dept. Lehman College, Bronx, NY
1986 Tuition Scholarship,
Cincinnati Art Academy, OH
REVIEWS &
ARTICLES ABOUT MY WORK
Shotgun
Review Kenney Mencher and Carolyn Meyer: in BLACK and WHITE by Mary Anne
Kluth Arthaus (Editor's Note: This review was originally intended for
publication in Artweek.) July 18, 2009
In
BLACK and WHITE Submitted by bbamsey on May 8, 2009
Telling
Tales on Canvas Rebecca Wallace, Palo Alto Weekly January 26, 2007
Controversy
is in the eye of the beholder in Boehm exhibit, By: Sandra Kraisireideja,
North
County Times 2006
"The
Eyes of the Beholder" Jack Fischer, San Jose Mercury, 2006
"All
Too Real" By Kelly Vance, East Bay Express, 2006
"Art
scene by Bill Van Siclen: Works that deal with doubt, mystery and ambiguity"
by Bill Van Siclen, Providence Journal - Providence, RI, USA 01:00
AM EDT on Thursday, September 8, 2005
"His
art's too racy for walls at CalSTRS"
By David Barton Sacramento
Bee Friday, April 16, 2004
Letter
to the Editor in Response to Sac Bee Article 2004
"Teachers'
group removes professor's suggestive art" by Monique Beeler,
Oakland
Tribune also published in the Fremont Argus
Friday April 23, 2004
"Center for the Arts
exhibits 'Relationships'"
Laredo Morning Times 29 May 1997, 1C.
"Kenney Mencher's 'Noir
Images' exhibit at LCC" Laredo Morning Times 6 April 1997, 1C.
"A&M International
art Professor's 'Noir Images' opens April 11 at LCC" LareDOS April
1997: 34.
"A&M International
University art professor in SA gallery show,"
LareDOS December 1996:
14.
Dan R. Goddard, "Painters
Figure out unique ways to portray people,"
San Antonio Express News
20 November 1996:
"University art professor
in SA gallery show," Laredo Morning Times 24 November 1996, sec.
Local: 23A.
Lucy Gail Llenado,
"EYE to EYE, Artist:Kenney Mencher,"
Everybody's News 1 September
1994: 5.
COLLECTIONS
Josh Kornbluth,
San Francisco
Howard Tullman, Chicago
Sheppard Mullin Richter
& Hampton LLP, Los Angeles, CA
Lester and Eileen Traub,
Los Angeles, CA
Founder's Title &
Trust, Sacramento, California
Mary Kissler, Curator
of Print, Art Museum of Auckland, New Zealand
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