McKenzie, John Patrick
Philippines, 1962
John Patrick McKenzie uses text for both its visual and semantic qualities, creating work that simultaneously serves as both image and poetry. McKenzie’s process is based on a complex, repetitive sequencing of calligraphy that methodically adds layers of nuance to his chosen subjects, which are most often people and objects from pop culture, current events, and his immediate surroundings. Some notables include Linda Rondstadt, John F. Kennedy Jr., Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Elvis. Swirling, multi-angled, and disorienting, the placement of his language comments on the contradictory, sometimes overwhelming, nature of media attention, politics and celebrity. Often controversial or downright poking fun, McKenzie’s stylized handwriting and use of sometimes surreal repetitive meter invites his audience to infer varied and multiple meanings. McKenzie moved to the United States with his family in 1964. He often incorporates references to his Filipino heritage and culture into his work, drawing attention to the Filipino-American diaspora and experience of American pop culture.
He was nominated for SFMOMA’s prestigious SECA Art Award in 2012. McKenzie’s drawings are included in the permanent collections of Le MADmusée, Liège, Belgium, and abcd (art brut connaissance et diffusion), Paris, France.
