Santa Fe-based painter Kenny McKenna paints all around the Southwest, but in May he will turn his attention exclusively to Arizona, where he will have a new solo show with Legacy Gallery in Scottsdale. The Sonoran Desert, he says, has been calling to him.
Catalina Late Afternoon, oil on linen, 18 x 24 in.
“It’s such a beautiful state so it’s been fun to paint only Arizona. We lived in Phoenix for a bit, and then in Jerome, too. A long time ago, I used to show with [Legacy Gallery owner] Brad Richardson’s father-in-law, Troy Murray, and he encouraged us to rent a place in Williams. During that stay, I ordered some frames from Cottonwood and that’s when we really saw Jerome. You just can’t go wrong with any of these places,” McKenna says. “When it came to these new works, I just really focused on the saguaro cactus. The show ended up being variations of the Sonoran Desert.”
Desert Oasis, oil on linen, 20 x 16 in.
New works in the show include Rainbow and Sunrise, both featuring dramatic light effects in the sky. In Sonoran Arroyo, the artist paints a dry riverbed, a familiar site within the often drought-stricken Grand Canyon State. McKenna does offer some optimistic hope with the inclusion of a tiny trickle of water that tumbles over scorched rock. In Catalina Later Afternoon and Desert Oasis, water is more the central feature within pristine desertscapes. Both paintings were inspired by the Santa Catalina Mountains near Tucson.
Rainbow, oil on linen, 20 x 26 in.
McKenna, who has shown with Legacy Gallery for more than 15 years, recalls early trips to Arizona with his family—his brother next to him in the backseat and his dad at the wheel. “That’s how I first saw the state. We were coming from California, and I remember seeing Jerome for the first time on that trip. This would have been 1966, and it was a very cool town. We saw the famous Jerome sign with the population crossed out, and then crossed out some more to show how people were leaving the town,” he says. “This would have been during the hippie movement, right around when Jerome was getting repopulated. I also really like seeing the Apache Trail, Monument Valley and Sedona. The whole state is beautiful.”
Sunrise, oil on linen, 24 x 18 in.
McKenna’s new show opens May 7 and continues through May 16. —
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