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’.
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.