The oil paintings of Marcelyn McNeil weave through dualities the artist handles with virtuosity: organic and hard-edge, painterly, and flat matte, austerity and humor. The tension created by these balances and the looming forms read simply but enable the chance to engage slowly within the macro-view of the composition and the micro-view of the palimpsest layers. Spare and deliberate forms interfold with soft pours to invite contemplation. White oxide takes on a dominant role in the palette and there is a deep push toward thinning and pouring oil paint. Each thin layer on the raw canvas becoming a luminous veil to deeply sensuous effect.
Born in Kansas, Marcelyn McNeil earned an MFA from the University of Illinois, Chicago. McNeil’s work is included in the permanent collections of the Dallas Museum of Art and the San Antonio Museum of Art. A monograph, Marcelyn McNeil Works, was published by Radius Books in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 2022. Included in the book are writings by Hesse McGraw, Executive Director at CAM Houston, and Alison Hearst, a curator at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. McNeil currently lives and works in Dallas.
[excerpted from Conduit Gallery website: www.conduitgallery.com]