Acrylic on wood panel
12” x 12”
 
Inspired by the poem I Remember by Kathleen MacKenzie
 
 
I Remember
 
I remember a Sunday
winter in the Bronx
the barren streets
enveloped by a bitter cold sky, 
a grey blanket covering 
our apartment buildings
 
I remember the wind
cutting through the alleyways
whipping across the elevated train tracks
lifting falling swirling passing McArdle’s bar
issuing a drunken howl
before turning the corner 
 
The barbershop pole
whirling red white and blue
the sweetshop awning
flapping fiercely
Joe’s shoe repair sign
creaking back and forth
 
I also remember
on that Sunday afternoon
snapping Liz’s picture
as she stood in closeup
smiling 
facing the wind
 
—  © Kathleen MacKenzie
 
 
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
 
Kathleen MacKenzie was born in NYC and raised in the Bronx where the immigrant and urban experience were a major part of her childhood. The documentation of her family through photographs and letters from Europe became an important influence in her work.  Kathleen has exhibited her paintings, drawings, inkjet prints, photography and videos in New York, New Mexico and New Jersey. This includes the Dorsky Museum at SUNY New Paltz, Muroff Kotler Visual Arts Gallery SUNY Ulster, WAA Woodstock, Storefront Gallery in Kingston, NY, 510 Gallery Hudson, Maloney Art Gallery at St. Elizabeth College, NJ, Santa Fe Art Institute, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, The Parrish Art Museum, Islip Art Museum, The Owings Dewey Fine Art Gallery Santa Fe, The Swiss Institute, The Print Club of NYC, Gallery 128, and The Edward Hopper Art Center. Her experimental video and film work were included in screenings at the Knitting Factory, Artist Space, Millennium Film Workshop, Gallery 128 and The Collective for Living Cinema, NYC. In 2002 she was invited to attend a month long artist in residency at the Santa Fe Arts Institute in New Mexico. Kathleen attended Hunter College as an undergraduate art student simultaneously doing a work/study at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts (now MAD). At Hunter College, she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting, graduating Magna Cum Laude. In the 1980’s she was actively involved with the New York City downtown experimental film and video community, attending workshops and classes including New York University, The Collective for Living Cinema, Film Video Arts and the Millennium Film Workshop. In the 1990’s she completed short video pieces incorporating her own photography, family photos and found film footage. She worked extensively in NYC museums and various art programs and settings around New York City. As an instructor at City The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Henry Street Settlement, The Children’s Museum of NYC and City College, Kathleen taught classes and workshops in video production and film animation as well as art. Kathleen moved from New York City to the Hudson Valley in 2012. Kathleen’s painting was featured in the “Parting Shot” section of the July 2013 issue of the Chronogram Magazine and her poem “Facing the Wind” was published in the April 2018 issue of Chronogram.  She lives and works in her studio in Rosendale, NY.