A painterly Peter Sellers, Mencher's works are like the film "Being There."  Mencher likes to watch.

Citing literature, television, film, and stage drama, as major influence's on his work, Mencher’s objective is to present a figurative composition divorced from its context that forces viewers to create their own interpretation of the narrative. By combining calligraphic gestural brushstrokes with passages of tight traditional glazing techniques, Mencher's work explores the thread of human connection that is woven into our experiences.  Collaged from posed photographs and pop-culture, Mencher's paintings are frozen moments in a play.  Sometimes these moments are outrageous or surreal and the figures in his paintings are character actors caught up in the action.

William Wisner writes,

Realist in execution like a Zola novel, the subjects of Mencher's work hold coffee cups sit in leather chairs, make confessions and declare intentions, but the silence of the paint leaves us only a visual trace as to what's being said and what understandings are being clarified.  As you look at Mencher's art you are reminded of your own lost moments- the people you should have comforted, but didn't; the lover you trusted who stopped returning your calls; the companion at work who quietly knifed you in committee and then cheerfully chatted you up at the coffee break.  Humble stuff, average people making average choices. . .

Originally from New York, NY, Kenney Mencher earned a BA and MA in Art History from City University of New York and University of California, Davis, respectively, following which he went on to obtain a MFA in painting from the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. He has taught at a number of institutions including the University of Chicago and Texas A&M University, and now teaches at Ohlone College in Fremont, California. He is the author of a text book Liaisons: Readings in Art, Literature and Philosophy. His exposure via solo and group exhibitions is extensive nationwide.

EDUCATION
 

1993-1995 University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
MFA Painting

1991-1994 University of California, Davis, CA
MA Art History -Thesis Title:
"Vampires, the Audiences they Consume."

1988-1991 City University of New York, Bronx, NY
Magna Cum Laude; BA Art History

1985-1986 University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
& Spring 1988

1981-1985 Art Students' League, Manhattan, NY

1978-1982 Art & Design High School, Manhattan, NY

EMPLOYMENT
 

1999-Present Associate Professor of Art & Art History, Ohlone College, Fremont, California

1998-1999 Instructor of Art History & Western Civilization, San Francisco University High School

1996-1998 Assistant Professor of Art & Art History, Texas A&M University, Laredo, TX

1995-1996 Curator of Visual Resources, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

1995-1996 Adjunct Instructor, University of Chicago, IL
 

2008 Sequential Art Gallery, Portland, Oregon
Cads and Coquettes
(Solo)

2008 Varnish Fine Art, San Francisco, California
Lovers and Liars
(Solo)

2007 Elliott Fouts Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Faces and Farces
(Solo)

2007 Dahlia Woods Gallery, Dallas, Texas
The Return of the Maltese Falcon
(Solo)

2007 Gallery 2611, Redwood City, California
Clichés and Characters
(Solo)

2006 Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Kenney Mencher: Recent Work
(Solo)

2006 Elliott Fouts Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Apperceptions and Allegories
(Solo)

2006 Norton Studio Gallery, Pacific Art League, Palo Alto, CA
Being There
(Solo)

2006  Esteban Sabar Gallery, Oakland, CA
Similes and Sayings
(Solo Show)

2006  Boehm Gallery, Palomar College, San Marcos, CA
Mixed Metaphors
(Solo Show)

2005  Dig Fine Art, Providence, RI
Clichés & Proverbs
(Solo Show)

2005 Elliott Fouts Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Hamlettes on Wry
(Solo Show)

2005 Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, Mountain View, CA
(Solo Show)

2004 Louie-Meager Art Gallery, Gary Soren Smith Center, Ohlone College, CA
Dress Code
(Solo Show)

2004  STRS Gallery, Sacramento, CA

2002  Louie Art Gallery, Ohlone College,  Fremont, CA
Too Knew: Kathryn Frank and Kenney Mencher

2001  Craighead-Green, Dallas, TX
Kenney Mencher and Connie Connally

1997 Laredo Community College, Laredo, TX
Art Department Teaching Gallery
Relationships
(Solo Show)

1997 Laredo Center for the Arts, Laredo, TX
Noir Images
(Solo Show)

1994 Brody Gallery, University of Cincinnati, OH
Androgynous Paintings of V.
(Solo Show)

1993 Garden Gallery, Sacramento, CA
California Landscapes
(Solo Show)

EXHIBITIONS: GROUP

2006 Klaudia Marr, Santa Fe, NM
 13th Annual Realism Invitational

2006  Triton Art Museum, Santa Clara, CA
Beyond the Likeness: Self Portraits by California Artists

2006 Isadore Gallery, Lancaster, PA
The Go Figure Show: Artistic Interpretation of Figure Elements

2005 Klaudia Marr, Santa Fe, NM
 12th Annual Realism Invitational

2005  Blue Line Gallery, Atlanta, GA
 Grand Opening Group Show

2004 Craighead-Green, Dallas, TX

2004  Red Ink Studio, San Jose, CA

2003 Hang Gallery Palo Alto, CA
One More Thing Before I Go

2003 Hang Gallery San Francisco, CA
Can't Sleep

2002  Hang Gallery San Francisco, CA
Small Works

2002 The Canvas Gallery, San Francisco, CA
The View from Here: Anna Conti, Joel Tarbox and Kenney Mencher

2002 Period Gallery, Omaha, NE
Painting

2002 Period Gallery, Omaha, NE
Faces
2001 Craighead-Green Gallery, Dallas TX
Connie Connaly and Kenney Mencher

2001 Hang Gallery, San Francisco, CA
The Figurative Show

2000 Bryant Gallery, Jackson, MI
Works on Consignment

2000 Jenkins-Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Small Works

2000 Hanson Gallery, Knoxsville, TN
Faces and Figures

1999 Jenkins-Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA
First Annual Realism Invitational

1999 Craighead/Green Gallery, Dallas TX
Consignment Works

1999 Jenkins-Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Anniversary Group Exhibition

1998 Jenkins-Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Small Works

1998 Jenkins-Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Nancy Switzer, Milt Kobayashi, and Kenney Mencher

1998 Craighead/Green Gallery, Dallas TX
Consignment Works

1998 Craighead/Green Gallery, Dallas TX
Michael Magovoro and Kenney Mencher

1998 Primary Object Gallery, San Antonio, TX

1996 Martin Rathburn Gallery, San Antonio, TX
Ron Hoover, Katie Pell and Kenney Mencher

1995 Tangeman Center Gallery, University of Cincinnati, OH
Thesis Exhibit

1994 Mason Fine Art Gallery, Mason, OH
Jan Brown Checco, Ken Landon Buck,
Irwin Greenburg, and Kenney Mencher

1994 KZF Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
Manmade and Natural Landscapes

1994 Zephyr Gallery, Louisville, KY
Consignment Artists Show

1994 Semantics Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
Burrell, Simmons, & Mencher

1994 840 Gallery, University of Cincinnati, OH
The Innocent Eye Test

1993 Davis Art Center, Davis, CA

1992 Images Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1990 The National Arts Club, Manhattan, NY
Fifteenth Annual Student Exhibition
Honorable Mention

1986 Arts Consortium Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
Monumental Still Life Drawings

1986 Chidlaw Gallery, Art Academy, Cincinnati, OH
Show in honor of scholarship recipients

LECTURES & PAPERS DELIVERED
 

2006 Pacific Art League, Palo Alto, CA
The Figurative Tradition and Realism

2003 Hang Gallery San Francisco, CA
Can't Sleep

2002 Hang Gallery
Painting

1999 Guest Lecturer, Sacred Heart High School
St. Peter's Cathedral

1999 Guest Lecturer, Sacred Heart High School
Constantine and Early Christianity

1998 Guest Lecturer, Sacred Heart High School
Monasticism/Scholasticism/Catholicism

1997 Laredo Rotary
Pompeii as an Artifact of Civic Pride

1996 Guest Lecturer, Classics Week, Texas A&M University,
"A Brief Tour of the Acropolis"

1993 Guest lecturer, University of California, Davis, CA
"Mannerism and Architecture"

1992 Guest lecturer, University of California, Davis, CA
"Art as Ideology"

AWARDS
 

1993-1995 Full Tuition Scholarship, University of Cincinnati OH

1991 Departmental Honors:Art, Lehman College, Bronx, NY

1991 Geldwerth Scholarship, Lehman College, Bronx, NY

1990 Jacob Hammer Memorial Award in Playwriting

English Dept. Lehman College, Bronx, NY

1990 Raymond J. Sontag Prize History Dept. Lehman College, Bronx, NY

1986 Tuition Scholarship, Cincinnati Art Academy, OH

REVIEWS & ARTICLES ABOUT MY WORK

Telling Tales on Canvas Rebecca Wallace, Palo Alto Weekly January 26, 2007

Controversy is in the eye of the beholder in Boehm exhibit, By: Sandra Kraisireideja, North County Times 2006

"The Eyes of the Beholder" Jack Fischer, San Jose Mercury, 2006

"All Too Real" By Kelly Vance, East Bay Express, 2006

"Art scene by Bill Van Siclen: Works that deal with doubt, mystery and ambiguity"  by Bill Van Siclen, Providence Journal - Providence, RI, USA 01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, September 8, 2005

"His art's too racy for walls at CalSTRS" By David Barton Sacramento Bee Friday, April 16, 2004

Letter to the Editor in Response to Sac Bee Article 2004

"Teachers' group removes professor's suggestive art"  by Monique Beeler, Oakland Tribune also published in the Fremont Argus
Friday April 23, 2004

"Center for the Arts exhibits 'Relationships'" Laredo Morning Times 29 May 1997, 1C.

"Kenney Mencher's 'Noir Images' exhibit at LCC" Laredo Morning Times 6 April 1997, 1C.

"A&M International art Professor's 'Noir Images' opens April 11 at LCC" LareDOS April 1997: 34.

"A&M International University art professor in SA gallery show," LareDOS December 1996: 14.

Dan R. Goddard, "Painters Figure out unique ways to portray people," San Antonio Express News 20 November 1996:

"University art professor in SA gallery show," Laredo Morning Times 24 November 1996, sec. Local: 23A.

Lucy Gail Llenado, "EYE to EYE, Artist:Kenney Mencher," Everybody's News 1 September 1994: 5.

COLLECTIONS

Josh Kornbluth, San Francisco

Howard Tullman, Chicago

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, Los Angeles, CA

Lester and Eileen Traub, Los Angeles, CA

Founder's Title & Trust, Sacramento, California

Mary Kissler, Curator of Print, Art Museum of Auckland, New Zealand