DANIELLE MCKINNEY, “Tell me More,” 2023 (oil on linen. 11 x 14 inches / 27.9 x 35.6 cm). | Courtesy the artist, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York and Aspen, and Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin | Paris | London | Marfa. © Danielle Mckinney. Photo by Pierre Le Hors
THE INTERIOR LIVES of Black women take center stage in the work of Danielle McKinney (b. 1981). Her paintings 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 with vintage 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 the artist’s paintings.
McKinney is the 2025 Ruth Ann and Nathan Perlmutter Artist-in-Residence at the Rose Art Museum, where her first 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, taking pictures 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 work shows up in her painting, influencing how she frames her subjects and the atmosphere of her scenes. CT
“Danielle McKinney: Tell Me More” is on view at the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., from Aug. 20, 2025-Jan. 4, 2026. The exhibition is curated by Gannit Ankori, who is the Henry and Lois Foster Director and Chief Curator of the Rose Art Museum and Professor of Fine Arts and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Brandeis University
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Danielle McKinney, 2024. | Photo by Pierre Le Hors
Installation view of “Danielle Mckinney: Tell Me More,” Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University (Aug. 20, 2025–Jan. 4, 2026). | Julia Featheringill Photography, Courtesy Rose Art Museum
DANIELLE MCKINNEY, “Evening Star,” 2024 (oil on cotton. 24 x 18 inches / 61 x 45.7 cm). | Promised Gift of Shana and Brian Mandell. Courtesy the artist, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York and Aspen, and Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin | Paris | London | Marfa. © Danielle Mckinney. Photo credit: Pierre Le Hors
DANIELLE MCKINNEY, “Shelter,” 2023 (oil on linen. 20 x 16 inches / 50.8 x 40.6 cm). | Private Collection. Courtesy the artist, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York and Aspen, and Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin | Paris | London | Marfa. © Danielle Mckinney. Photo credit: Pierre Le Hors
“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 one’s own space. In these works, I’m creating a language of interiority that resists interruption.” — Danielle McKinney
Installation view of “Danielle Mckinney: Tell Me More,” Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University (Aug. 20, 2025–Jan. 4, 2026). | Julia Featheringill Photography, Courtesy Rose Art Museum
DANIELLE MCKINNEY, Moth, 2022 (acrylic on canvas. 24 x 18 inches / 61 x 45.7 cm). | The Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection. Courtesy the artist, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York and Aspen, and Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin | Paris | London | Marfa. © Danielle Mckinney. Photo credit: Nik Massey
DANIELLE MCKINNEY, “All Things Aside,” 2024 (oil on linen. 30 x 24 inches / 76.2 x 61 cm). | Courtesy the artist, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York and Aspen, and Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin | Paris | London | Marfa. © Danielle Mckinney. Photo credit: Pierre Le Hors
DANIELLE MCKINNEY, “Reading Room,” 2021 (acrylic on canvas, 18 x 24 inches / 45.7 x 61 cm). | Collection of Amalia Dayan and Adam Lindemann. Courtesy the artist, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York and Aspen, and Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin | Paris | London | Marfa. © Danielle Mckinney. Photo credit: Lance Brewer
“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
Installation view of “Danielle Mckinney: Tell Me More,” Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University (Aug. 20, 2025–Jan. 4, 2026). | Julia Featheringill Photography, Courtesy Rose Art Museum
DANIELLE MCKINNEY, “Secret Garden,” 2021 (acrylic on canvas, 20 1/8 x 16 1/8 inches / 51.1 x 41 cm). | Courtesy the artist, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York and Aspen, and Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin | Paris | London | Marfa. © Danielle Mckinney. Photo credit: Lance Brewer
DANIELLE MCKINNEY, “Dream Catcher,” 2021 (acrylic on canvas, 24 x 18 inches /61 x 45.7 cm). | Courtesy of the artist, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York and Aspen, and Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin | Paris | London | Marfa. © Danielle Mckinney. Photo credit: Pierre Le Hors
Installation view of “Danielle Mckinney: Tell Me More,” Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University (Aug. 20, 2025–Jan. 4, 2026). | Julia Featheringill Photography, Courtesy Rose Art Museum
FIND MORE about Danielle McKinney on Instagram
FIND MORE Opening soon, “Danielle McKinney: Second Wind” (Sept. 18-Nov. 1, 2025) at Galerie Max Hetzler in London is the artist’s first exhibition in the UK
BOOKSHELF
“Danielle McKinney: Beyond the Brushstroke” is the first book dedicated to the artist’s work. Published by Phaidon, the volume is forthcoming in October. The publication is a mother-daughter project with 50 paintings by McKinney presented alongside text “prompts” authored by her mother Barbara McKinney, who is an educator. The book is designed to “offer readers a chance to write out their responses to the prompts, inspiring a meditative practice.”
