Stephen McKenna
Stephen McKenna (sometimes signed as SMCK) (20 March 1939 – 4 May 2017) was a British-born visual artist known for his postmodern figurative paintings. He was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 1986. His works can be seen in the collections of the Tate Galleries, the British Council, the Imperial War Museum, London, and has been shown at various galleries including the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin and the Irish Museum of Modern Art.
Also recorded as SMCK · Stephen Mckenna
Stephen McKenna
- Name
- Stephen McKenna
- Born
- 20 March 1939
- Birthplace
- Ashford, Middlesex, England, U.K.
- Place of death
- County Carlow, Ireland
- Occupation
- Visual artist
- Known for
- Postmodern, figurative painting
- Died
- 2017 · County Carlow.
- Nationality
- United Kingdom · Ireland
- Fields
- figurative art
- Movements
- Postmodernism · contemporary art
- Education
- Slade School of Fine Art
- Languages
- English
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Stephen McKenna (sometimes signed as SMCK) (20 March 1939 – 4 May 2017) was a British-born visual artist known for his postmodern figurative paintings. He was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 1986. His works can be seen in the collections of the Tate Galleries, the British Council, the Imperial War Museum, London, and has been shown at various galleries including the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin and the Irish Museum of Modern Art.
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In this article
Biography
Biography
He was a member of the Royal Hibernian Academy.
Stephen McKenna studied at Slade School of Fine Art. The recorded working language is English. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are figurative art. Work by Stephen McKenna is recorded in the collections of Tate, Fries Museum, National Gallery of Ireland, ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe and Walker Art Gallery.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Stephen McKenna • Born — 20 March 1939 • Birthplace — Ashford, Middlesex, England, U.K. • Place of death — County Carlow, Ireland • Other Names — SMCK • Occupation — Visual artist • Known for — Postmodern, figurative painting • Notable Works — Tate, British Council, Imperial War Museum
Life
Life
McKenna was born in London, he studied there at Slade School of Art (affiliated to the University College London). In 1973 he moved to Donegal, Ireland. He also lived in Belgium, Germany, and Italy. He was a guest professor at Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig (Brunswick, Germany) from 1995 to 1996. In 1997 he curated the exhibition The Pursuit of Painting at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. He became an associate member of the RHA in 2001 and a full member in 2002 and was the president of this association from 2005 till 2009. He died in his home in County Carlow on 4 May 2017.
Notable works
Notable works
O, Ilium! (1982) is an example of postmodern pastiche, combining imagery from classical art and sculpture, Max Ernst, Constantin Brâncuși, and archaic Greek pottery. According to an Ingeborg Hoesterey, it throws together images from the cultural memory of western civilisation, showing them to constitute only a "wasteland".
Exhibitions
Exhibitions
Solo exhibitions of his work include: • Museum of Modern Art, Oxford (1983) • Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (1983) • Stephen McKenna Paintings 1985–1993, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (1993) Group and recent posthumous exhibitions include: • Salon, Lismore Castle Arts, County Waterford, curated by Matthew Higgs (2026) • Outside, Karma, New York, curated by Matthew Higgs (2026) • Thinking of somewhere else, The Approach, London (2026)
Places
Named by the record
Places
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London.
Birth place
County Carlow.
Death place
Citations
References
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 20 August 2026.
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