Alison McKenna
"My work encompasses protest, alchemy, social utopias, sites of pilgrimage and gathering; forces that intertwine to shape collective consciousness. I embrace immediate materials , paper, newsprint, hardboard and emulsion and enjoy the potent transformative quality of something potentially transcendent. Painted forms and bold colour passages are reductive hovering between abstraction, landscape and the body, the works invite associative readings while resisting fixed narratives. The paintings and collages are transformed through alchemy and transmution of energy and as metaphor for transformation and hope." (Alison McKenna, 2026)
Solo Shows:
Moon Shrines, Water Springs, Sacred Flares, John Marchant Gallery, Brighton June 7 - July 13 2024
A Harmony of Opposites, Eagle Gallery Gallery. London July 2017
Curation:
Betsy Damon, Body Of Water Satellite Storefront, Brighton July 2026
Light Years Ahead, 14 female artists working in painting, photography, drawing, banner and video reflecting on issues such as climate emergency, earth guardianship, women’s liberation and peaceful protest. Artist: Monica Sjoo, Alice O Malley, Delaine Le Bas, Vivienne Dick, Ptolemy Mann, Grace Ndiritu, Sarah Staton, Sandra Vasquez De La Horra, Forouz Zarei, Jessica Mallock, Jennifer Binnie and Fiona Finnegan.
John Marchant Gallery October - November 2023
An expanded iteration of Light Years Ahead including Monica Ross and Greenham Common archive materials travelled to De Montfort University, Leicester November 2023 - February 2024
Then Me, co curated by Alison McKenna & John Marchant at Eagle Gallery London March 2016.
Group Shows and Art Fairs:
Sussex Contemporary, November 2025
Wish You Were Here, Air Gallery, New York 2025
Art Wave, The Land We Live Within, Ditchling 2025
Paperwork, New Haven Art Space, Group show 50 artists all works on paper 2024
Then Me Too, Galerie Simpson. Swansea July 2016.
Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong & Singapore, Fine Art Consultancy. London & Tokyo May 2016.
The London Art Fair. London, January 2016.
Aqua Miami Art Fair, Fine Art Consultancy. London & Tokyo December 2015.
The Other Art Fair. October 2015.
The Other Art Fair. April 2015.
The London Art Fair. January 2015.
The Other Art Fair. London 2014.
The Other Art Fair. London 2013.
The Others. Turin 2012.
Berliner Liste, Berlin 2012.
Drawing Now. Paris 2012.
Bear Pit, Group Show. London2011.
Trajector Art Fair. Brussels 2011.
South London Art Gallery. London 1996.
Common People, A Folk History of Land Rights, Enclosures and Resistance by Stephen Ellcock published by Watkins Books release date, Oct 2025.
Education
MA Fashion Central Saint Martins 2003 -2005
BA Fashion Central Saint Martins 1992 -1996
Fine Art Foundation Croydon College 1989 -1990