Kathryn Mecca

b. 1987; Lives and works in Maryland

Kathryn Mecca's paintings capture the human figure as a vehicle to express and examine the tension between ideas of intimacy, movement, perception, and the technological lens. Influenced by her time in Europe studying art history with an emphasis on Fascism and Medieval Italian Art, Mecca utilizes traditional and labor-intensive oil painting methods that blend with the artist’s unique language as a contemporary painter. Materials, layers, and folds blend in a traditional painterly fashion while the artist draws from technology to add modern elements of crispness, intensity, artificial light, and cropping. By zooming in on a particular feature of each figure, such as a shoulder, an elbow, or a chest, Mecca deliberately augments specific elements of the human figure, thus stripping the painting of a distinct context. Compelling the viewer to consider the human body without a frame of reference, the artist employs clothing as a symbol for excessive curation and explores how indulging in an overly stylized version of reality strips us of genuine connection and instead, creates an artificial sense of intimacy. Producing uniquely quiet yet manicured, elusive moments, Mecca presents a tension that distances the viewer from completely connecting with the image while simultaneously confronting them with a private moment.

The artist graduated with a BA in Visual Art and Sociology from the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University in 2010, where she was awarded the Ruth Crockett Prize for excellence in art. In 2020, Mecca received an MFA from the Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, where, during her studies, spent one year abroad at Temple University Rome (2019). Her work has been featured in exhibitions at institutions internationally such as Asarian-McCullough Gallery at St. Thomas Aquinas College (Sparkill, NY), San Francisco Art Institute (San Francisco, CA), New York Academy of Art (New York City, NY), Temple University Rome Gallery (Rome, Italy), Indianapolis Art Center (Indianapolis, IN), Union Street Gallery at Indiana University (Kokomo, IN), and Tom Thomas Gallery at Indiana University Gallery East (Richmond, IN). Mecca has presented work in solo and group exhibitions at commercial galleries across the United States and London.  She first exhibited with Massey Klein Gallery during their inaugural Tyler MFA Painting exhibition, which featured the work of Tyler’s nine MFA graduates from that year (on view from 17-31 August, 2020). She was then selected to present new work with Massey Klein Gallery, alongside artists Howard Fonda and Leigh Suggs, at the 2021 virtual edition of Future Fair Holiday Market. In 2022, the artist had her first solo exhibition with Massey Klein Gallery, Into The Fold. Recent exhibitions include Prisma Art Prize at Fondamenta Gallery, Rome, Italy, and Hajimemashite! at Bridge Mogura Gallery, Tokyo, Japan. Her work has been featured in several print and online publications, including Certain Ground, River View Observer, and Tinge Magazine (cover image). The artist lives and works in Maryland.