Eyes On: Megan Coonelly
Name: Megan Coonelly
Age: 33
Hails From: Philadelphia
Résumé: B.A. from Arcadia University, M.F.A. from Illinois State University; Instagram praise from Blake Lively.
Why We Care: Artist Megan Coonelly caught our attention by way of Blake Lively — yes, she of “Gossip Girl” fame. Inspired by Andy Warhol, Coonelly’s pieces are vibrant and fanciful and often reference pop-culture icons. “Yeezy Breezy” depicts Kanye West’s face floating in a circle of cake slices, overlaid with emojis. “#HailMary” shows repeated images of the Virgin Mary set against a pink background. One particular piece portraying Dolly Parton earned the approval of Lively, who shared the work to her Instagram.
“I always enjoyed going to museums, even if at times it was to give some comical commentary to what I saw,” says Coonelly. “I always enjoyed how pissed Madame Cézanne looked in some of her portraits.”
She recently moved back to Philadelphia, where she has a new studio and is a member of the Crane Arts Center’s Spillway Collective. She is working on an exhibition, due out next year.
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