By: Najla Alexander
Image courtesy of Artist
Kean University Galleries and Collections is pleased to announce a reception for Scratch and Tear: Works by Winifred McNeill on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. on the first floor of the Nancy Thompson Learning Commons. The artist will speak at 5:30 P.M., followed by a reception at 6:15 P.M. with light refreshments.
The solo exhibition will be on view in the Nancy Dryfoos Gallery, located in the Nancy Thompson Learning Commons, through December 4, 2026. The gallery is open to the public Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Scratch and Tear: Work by Winifred McNeill presents five series produced over three decades, leading to the present. McNeill’s work almost always starts with drawing, often on unexpected and demanding surfaces.
In Center of the Universe, graphite is applied to the concave side of a seashell, responding to the surface irregularities. In Industrial Strength, metal pipe tees push out of the wall, revealing the anatomy of their spaces; the tees are coated with plaster to create a drawing surface bearing small graphite renderings of the exterior of the human body.
McNeill’s feat of conquering material is matched by her equally challenging choice of subject matter: Hands, private parts, and perfect circles. Her preparatory ink drawings for the limited-edition letterpress book The Helen Fragments flesh out the life of Helen of Troy beyond her beauty and abduction using passages from Homer’s epic The Iliad.
In a suite of prints made at the Brodsky Center, McNeill approaches drawing differently, through the body's manipulation of the paper substrate. The print becomes a napkin that absorbs the imprint of lipstick, a veiled surface swept away by a tear, or a hole torn by a fingernail.
Winifred McNeill works and lives in New Jersey and received her MFA from Queens College, CUNY, and her BFA from Boston University. She is Professor Emeritus in the Art Department at Kean Jersey City, formerly New Jersey City University, and previously served as Curator of Education at the Jersey City Museum.
While living in Rome, she taught drawing and painting at St. Stephen's School. She has shown her work with Ivy Brown Gallery in New York City as well as other national and international venues. Her work is held in private and public collections including Rutgers University, the New York Public Library, the University of Delaware Rare Books and Special Collections, and Columbia University Rare Books Department.
She has participated in numerous residencies, including at the European Ceramic Work Center in Oisterwijk, Netherlands; the Virginia Center for Creative Arts; the Brodsky Center at PAFA; the Millay Colony for the Arts; and Yaddo.
All Kean galleries are pay-as-you-wish. Visit galleries.kean.edu to learn more about the exhibitions, opening receptions, and public programs.