BY VICTORIA L. VALENTINE
THE INTERIOR LIVES of Black women take center stage in the work of Danielle McKinney (b. 1981). Herpaintings feature dimly lit havens where her self-possessed protagonists unwind, lounge, sleep, contemplate, read,and smoke. The women are often nude or draped in beautiful robes in domestic spaces intentionally curated withvintage furniture, paintings, and table lamps, personal touches that add to the character sketch of each subject.Color is also a defining aspect of the work. Dramatic, saturated palettes enhance the cinematic quality of theartist’s paintings.
McKinney is the 2025 Ruth Ann and Nathan Perlmutter Artist-in-Residence at the Rose Art Museum, where herfirst solo museum exhibition in the United States opened in late August. “Danielle McKinney: Tell Me More”presents 13 intimately scaled paintings produced between 2021 and 2025.
Born in Montgomery, Ala., McKinney lives and works in Jersey City, N.J. She started off as a photographer, takingpictures since the age of 15 when she received her first camera from her mother. McKinney went on to earn an MFA in photography from the Parsons School of Design (2013). Having painted on occasion since childhood, she formally turned to the medium in 2020, during the isolation of the pandemic. McKinney has said her camera workshows up in her painting, influencing how she frames her subjects and the atmosphere of her scenes.
“Painting is a spiritual act for me. Each canvas is a portal—a place where I explore the soul, the self, and what it means to be free within ones own space. In these works, Im creating a language of interiority that resistsinterruption.” — Danielle McKinney
“Danielle Mckinney redefines figuration, offering a bold reimagining of introspection, resistance, and a meditative spirituality embedded in everyday life. Her protagonists are autonomous figures who inhabit a space and a time marked by individual rhythms and pauses, disregarding the tempo of the outside world.” – Rose Art Museum Director and Chief Curator Gannit Ankori
