John McNamara

November 20–December 22 2017
Reception on Thursday, December 7 at 5:30 pm, artist talk at 6:00 pm

The University Art Gallery is located in the Theatre Building (Bldg 7) at Stanislaus State: 
Parking Lot 2 will be reserved to park free of charge during the reception from 5-9 pm on Thursday, December 7.

A painted image of people holding newspapers

 

For the past 31 years, John McNamara has investigated the relationship between painting and photography by making surrealist photocollages and then covering them with a layer of oil paint. McNamara says that for him “collage is a time machine of sorts. The painted skin on top jettisons the photo document into the world of painting; but these people, places and things still speak from underneath the painted skin.” The paintings in this exhibition were created between 1997 and 2017 and focus on “conceptions of transcendence, moments in popular culture, and sharable life realities.” 

McNamara received his MFA at the Massachusetts College of Art in 1977 and has taught at UC Berkeley since 1993. He has been the recipient of multiple prestigious art fellowships including one from the National Endowment for the Arts. McNamara has been featured in several magazines including Art NewsArtforum, and Art in America, and his work resides in the collections of major art museums such as the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the List Visual Art Center at MIT, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

You can view more of John McNamara's work here.

 

Updated: June 27, 2023