Janet McKenzie
I celebrate each one of us - the iconic individual - living out the abstractness of our lifetimes within the sanctuary of the human body. "
Janet McKenzie
"I celebrate each one of us - the iconic individual - living out the abstractness of our lifetimes within the sanctuary of the human body. I believe by creating unique, empowering, diverse, and inclusive paintings created from deep longing within my heart and soul - art reflecting inherent human similarities rather than differences - I am contributing to a more equitable, blessed, and loving world. A visitor to one of my exhibits told me that my work reminded her to stand up a little bit straighter, an intimate comment I am grateful to have received for it touched my heart then and still does, affirming my work, and inspiring me onward."
"Her artwork simultaneously communicates the humanity, timelessness and transcendence of the heroic."
"McKenzie reflects our time's awareness of suffering and injustice. In just those depths she celebrates courage, spiritual vision, and our common humanity."
Biography
Contemporary American artist Janet McKenzie was born in New York City, studied at the Art Students League of New York and was one of the youngest recipients of the Edward McDowell Traveling Scholarship which provided a year in Europe to study and create. She is the mother of one son, Simeon, and now lives in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.
Janet McKenzie is known for Jesus of the People. Sister Wendy Beckett selected this work First Place winner of the National Catholic Reporter’s Jesus 2000 International Competition for a new image of Jesus at the Millennium from 1700 entries from 6 continents. Revealed for the first time on the Today Show in New York City, her dark interpretation modeled from a woman, received a firestorm of hateful reactions and threats to the point her mail was separated for fear of a letter bomb. Threatening emails, phone calls and letters were constant and still are received, years later. Jesus of the People toured the United States for three years and was on exhibit in Santa Fe, NM on Sept. 11, 2001, with the exhibition space evolving into a chapel with visitors weeping before the painting. Established now as a true icon of this era, Jesus of the People invariably encourages discussion. National Geographic’s Special Issue - Jesus - An Illustrated Life, 2022, featured Jesus of the People as a full-page image. Jesus of the People was displayed on the pulpit for three months during Janet McKenzie’s extensive solo show, Diversity, Unity & Hope - the Sacred Paintings of Janet McKenzie, of the Basilica of Saint Mary, Minneapolis, MN, 2023.
Jesus, however, is not defined by suffering. Nor is he defined by salvation. In fact, Jesus is always bigger than any label or definition we might put on him. This is part of the great intrigue and allure of Janet McKenzie’s masterful painting, Jesus of the People. McKenzie brings us back to the essential reality of the incarnation and realization that Christian art is bereft without the full expression of humanity. As St. Paul reminds us, "If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it" (1 Cor. 12:26). All sufferings and joys are embedded in Jesus of the People. The crown of thorns acknowledges a history of suffering and marginalization while the depiction of Jesus witnesses to a deep solidarity with all people. McKenzie's painting works to bring healing to the pain caused by oppressive images of Jesus. May it continue to inspire Christians to see Jesus as they ponder their own humanity and the humanity of others.
Orbis Books published Holiness and the Feminine Spirit – The Art of Janet McKenzie - winner of the 2010 First Place Award for Spirituality from the Catholic Press Association). Orbis Books also published The Way of the Cross - the Path to New Life, 2013, a collaboration with Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB. The United Reformed Church, London, published Naming God, a collaboration with Rev. Jan Berry’s hymns, poetry, and prayers; 22 of Janet McKenzie’s paintings are featured, 2011.
Janet McKenzie was invited to be the 2013 William Belden Noble Lecturer at Memorial Church, Harvard University. Jesus of the People was exhibited on the altar. In 2017 Memorial Church commissioned The Divine Journey - Companions of Love and Hope, a new painting honoring the feminine community - this visual prayer serves as a testament to the courage and strength of women across time. Mary, the beloved foundational figure around which timeless women gather, holds the blessed child as he sleeps within her protection. Memorial Church produced The Divine Journey, a Painter’s Mission, an 11-minute video about the commission with commentary by Rev. Jonathan Walton (now President of Princeton Theological Seminary), Amy Robinson (who posed for the work), Simeon Geigel (the artist’s son) and Janet McKenzie.
Donors gifted The Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Burlington, VT Janet McKenzie’s Mary, and Jesus with the Papel Picado, which is permanently displayed in the Nave, 2015. This inclusive interpretation, inspired by the loss of a precious young woman, depicts Mother Mary holding the child Jesus lovingly and safely.
Demonstrators in support of racial and gender justice, New Americans/asylum seekers, and the LGBTQAI+ community regularly carry Janet McKenzie’s art in vigils and protests across the country, especially at the Southern US border.
Elizabeth Ursic, PhD., Professor of Religious studies at Mesa Community College wrote a biography on Janet McKenzie, A Sacred Artist's Life of Creative Activism, for Claiming Nobility for Women Activists in Religion, Atla Open Press, Chicago, 2020.
Collections include the Basilica of Saint Mary, Minneapolis, MN, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, Saint Mary’s University of MN, Winona, MN, Loyola School, NYC, Loyola University, Chicago, Carlow University, Pittsburgh, and the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul, Burlington, VT among others.
