Margaret Kennedy

Margaret Kennedy( Milford, Mass., 1948–) is a contemporary painter exploring color and light in abstract and figurative works. She graduated from Clark University, Worcester, MA, Phi Beta Kappa, majoring in art, with studio classes at the School of the Worcester Art Museum. She has studied at the Art Students League with Cornelia Foss and at the National Academy School with Susan Shatter, Reeve Schley, Sam Adoquei, Sonia Gechtoff and others.

Winning a guest editor spot at Mademoiselle led to a career in publishing. As design editor of House & Garden magazine, she worked with major photographers, including Horst, shooting interiors, and with numerous design luminaries including Mario Buatta, Bunny Williams, Charlotte Moss, creating room sets. During nineteen years as editor of House Beautiful, she initiated features on houses around the world from Russia to Japan and Morocco. She was editor-in-chief of Victoria and Elegant Bride magazines.

Kennedy's work has been exhibited and won prizes at the National Academy School and in group shows in New York City, Battenville, NY, Little Compton, RI and Westport, MA where her studio is based.

"The light and air I find in nature while painting plein air studies is what I seek to translate into large abstract works. While the abstracts have no subject, they embody the same notes, rearranged and simplified to become new and vibrant. Recently I have incorporated markings in aluminum leaf, creating a subtle kind of motion. In morning light the silvery marks almost disappear, then, just walking by, they become animated, dancing with reflections, different with every change of light. My work is alive with interacting color, graffiti markings and pentimento layered in underpainting. I want you to see what lies underneath, what came before, to enable ongoing conversation with each painting."