1994, Switched on Matisse, 11.5 x 9.5 inches, oil on gessoed paper, by Kenney Mencher
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Shipping takes 3-4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago. I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This painting is called Switched on Matisse, and I made it in 1994. It’s oil on gessoed paper, about 11.5 x 9.5 inches. It’s one of the more abstract, experimental portraits from that period when I was really playing around with color theory, brushwork, and fractured form.
The figure is a head-and-shoulders bust—maybe androgynous, maybe male, with bold planes of reds, yellows, blues, and purples forming the facial features. The head is rendered using broken strokes, sharp lines, and exaggerated color shifts that break up the form into dynamic, angular pieces. The face is stylized, verging on expressionist, with anatomical details hinted at but not strictly realistic. The brushwork is thick and directional, and the surface is built up with visible texture.
I was thinking about Matisse and Derain—and how they pushed color beyond local reality—and tried to do the same here, pushing warm and cool tones across the face in a way that feels electric and emotional. The title came from that—this idea of turning on a current, lighting up the face with unnatural color in a way that still conveys feeling.
The composition is centered but not static. The background has a pattern of crossed lines and hatched brushwork, adding rhythm and depth without distracting from the portrait. The rough edges of the paper are visible, and the gesso gives the whole surface a firm, matte quality that helped with the push-pull of thick vs. thin paint.
This piece is a good example of me stepping away from narrative for a moment and focusing just on the act of painting—seeing how far I could stretch form and still hold a recognizable human presence.
Details
Title: Switched on Matisse
Medium: Oil on gessoed paper
Size: 11.5 x 9.5 inches
Year: 1994
Condition: Excellent, unframed
Style: Stylized and expressionistic, non-local color
Ships flat with care
FREE SHIPPING
Shipping takes 3-4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago. I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This painting is called Switched on Matisse, and I made it in 1994. It’s oil on gessoed paper, about 11.5 x 9.5 inches. It’s one of the more abstract, experimental portraits from that period when I was really playing around with color theory, brushwork, and fractured form.
The figure is a head-and-shoulders bust—maybe androgynous, maybe male, with bold planes of reds, yellows, blues, and purples forming the facial features. The head is rendered using broken strokes, sharp lines, and exaggerated color shifts that break up the form into dynamic, angular pieces. The face is stylized, verging on expressionist, with anatomical details hinted at but not strictly realistic. The brushwork is thick and directional, and the surface is built up with visible texture.
I was thinking about Matisse and Derain—and how they pushed color beyond local reality—and tried to do the same here, pushing warm and cool tones across the face in a way that feels electric and emotional. The title came from that—this idea of turning on a current, lighting up the face with unnatural color in a way that still conveys feeling.
The composition is centered but not static. The background has a pattern of crossed lines and hatched brushwork, adding rhythm and depth without distracting from the portrait. The rough edges of the paper are visible, and the gesso gives the whole surface a firm, matte quality that helped with the push-pull of thick vs. thin paint.
This piece is a good example of me stepping away from narrative for a moment and focusing just on the act of painting—seeing how far I could stretch form and still hold a recognizable human presence.
Details
Title: Switched on Matisse
Medium: Oil on gessoed paper
Size: 11.5 x 9.5 inches
Year: 1994
Condition: Excellent, unframed
Style: Stylized and expressionistic, non-local color
Ships flat with care
FREE SHIPPING
Shipping takes 3-4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago. I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This painting is called Switched on Matisse, and I made it in 1994. It’s oil on gessoed paper, about 11.5 x 9.5 inches. It’s one of the more abstract, experimental portraits from that period when I was really playing around with color theory, brushwork, and fractured form.
The figure is a head-and-shoulders bust—maybe androgynous, maybe male, with bold planes of reds, yellows, blues, and purples forming the facial features. The head is rendered using broken strokes, sharp lines, and exaggerated color shifts that break up the form into dynamic, angular pieces. The face is stylized, verging on expressionist, with anatomical details hinted at but not strictly realistic. The brushwork is thick and directional, and the surface is built up with visible texture.
I was thinking about Matisse and Derain—and how they pushed color beyond local reality—and tried to do the same here, pushing warm and cool tones across the face in a way that feels electric and emotional. The title came from that—this idea of turning on a current, lighting up the face with unnatural color in a way that still conveys feeling.
The composition is centered but not static. The background has a pattern of crossed lines and hatched brushwork, adding rhythm and depth without distracting from the portrait. The rough edges of the paper are visible, and the gesso gives the whole surface a firm, matte quality that helped with the push-pull of thick vs. thin paint.
This piece is a good example of me stepping away from narrative for a moment and focusing just on the act of painting—seeing how far I could stretch form and still hold a recognizable human presence.
Details
Title: Switched on Matisse
Medium: Oil on gessoed paper
Size: 11.5 x 9.5 inches
Year: 1994
Condition: Excellent, unframed
Style: Stylized and expressionistic, non-local color
Ships flat with care
