Marykate O'Neil
BFF's Real and Imaginary
September 8 - October 3, 2026
Opening Reception: September 10 5-8 pm
The subject matter of my paintings reflect my life experience; even if that is not 'real life'. As the majority of my day and daily interactions occur only through a screen. The day job, staring all day at a screen; only to turn to a different screen at night, to stream more 'content'. The phone. The laptop, The iPad. The ‘zoom’ calls. Emails. Texts. Tweets. The streaming service. The FB ‘friends’. The Instagram ‘followers’. The TikTok. The computer screen. The phone screen. The computer screen. It all feels a bit like the Jetsons meets the 'Boy in the Plastic Bubble’.
My BFF left the planet last spring and now lives in my imagination. It has left me thinking a lot about the real and the imaginary and how we spend most of our time in the later world. As artists, we are often accused of spending a lot of time in our heads; in this digital age that now holds true for everyone. I feel just as close to Punch the monkey as I do to anyone. This exhibition is a part of a series of portraits of my friends. Some are real. Some are gone. Some, I am not so sure of anymore. But, I do know that I love these characters and they are regulars in my life. BFF’s 4 EVA.
Marykate’s paintings are colorful, alive with texture and have an intuitive sense that is often simultaneously representational and expressionistic. Subversive humor and playfulness infuse her work. Every gesture is made into an artistic experience embracing the pop culture of the everyday. Marykate’s painting practice is closely related to her music, “The more I paint, I feel like my paintings look like my songs sound. In both arenas, I am drawn to small everyday moments that stick to you – the ones where contradictions sit comfortably side by side each other.”
Marykate grew up in a small New England town and currently lives in NYC. In addition to painting and songwriting, O'Neil has long been involved in civil rights. She earned her B.A. in philosophy from Boston University; M.A. in education policy and politics from Columbia University and J.D. from the University of Connecticut. Marykate has studied painting at the Art Student's League of New York, the New York Studio School, Parsons and Mass Art.