Sarah McEneaney

After several frustrating attempts to visit a local art gallery, I was glad I finally had the chance to see the work of artist Sarah McEneaney. The gallery was very unique and unlike any other galleries I have visited. Her work is being showcased at The Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania. The artist currently lives in Chinatown and has a studio there. Most artists have something that makes their work distinct. Ms. McEneaney uses egg tempera and gouache instead of the traditional type paint I am used to seeing. She also uses wood, panels and paper instead of the usual canvas. The materials that she uses just made the work explode and the colors of the paint she used were vibrant and rich in color. This was one of the most vivid showing of colors that I have seen in any museum art. By using egg tempera which she mixes herself, on gessoed wood and a very small brush to paint so she can paint with both short and long strokes (crosshatching) the artist says this is considered a very old medium (www.missioncreep.com/sarah). Most of her works were of her and her pets or of where she lives or an event in her live. There were a lot of nudes of her in the shower or bath. She also does painting of herself in her house or of sites around Philadelphia and several other cities. She also does sculptures of her animals.

Some of the works that I really enjoyed are Mojacar Night, My House, Summer 1998 and Wissahickon. Mojacar Night is a painting of Sarah lying on a couch at nighttime. This painting really overwhelmed me because this was one of the most vibrantly colored paintings in the collection. She used egg tempera on panel that was sixteen by twenty inches and it was painted in 2001. On the panel the room that she is in is red - a really bright red. When you look out the windows there is a farm and hills that she painted. This adds a calming mood to the painting contrasting with the bright red.

My House, Summer 1998 was done in 1999 using egg tempera on wood. This was one of her larger works measuring forty-eight by thirty-six inches. This is a painting of Sarah in her backyard reading a newspaper. I liked this painting because you can read what’s on the paper and the plants look life like. There is a lot of attention to detail so to enjoy this painting you have to first be on top of the painting and then take a few steps back. She adds great detail for both points of view. It does not look like a photo but it is does have a lot of elements in it. She uses bright yellows, blues and reds but she also adds blacks and browns into this work creating a feeling of being