Art History Prehistory to the Renaissance

Hi!  I'm Kenney Mencher.  I am a semi retired professor of  Art and Art History from Ohlone College in Fremont.  (Now I'm a full time artist and I teach part time at West Valley College in Saratoga California.) My lecture style is casual and clear.  I don't believe in using a lot of jargon or overly complicated language.  Here's the rest of the stuff you might like to know about me:

Resume:  KENNEY MENCHER 

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     

2019-Present Instructor Art History, West Valley College, Saratoga, California

1999-2016  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 

EXHIBITIONS: Solo and  Two Person  2012  Ohlone College, Fremont CA  Renovated  Reputations: Paintings, Installation  and Mixed Media by Kenney Mencher  with publication edited by the artist.  (Solo) 

2012  Elliott Fouts Gallery, Sacramento CA  Renovated  Reputations: Paintings, Installation  and Mixed Media by Kenney Mencher  with publication edited by the artist.  (Solo) 

2012  Santa Clara University, Santa Clara CA  Renovated  Reputations: Paintings, Installation  and Mixed Media by Kenney Mencher  with publication edited by the artist.  (Solo) 

2012  Art Museum of Los Gatos, Los Gatos CA   Renovated  Reputations: Paintings, Installation  and Mixed Media by Kenney Mencher  with publication edited by the artist.  (Solo) 

2011  ArtHaus Gallery, San Francisco, CA   Renovated  Reputations: Paintings, Installation  and Mixed Media by Kenney Mencher  with publication edited by the artist.  (Solo) 

2009  ArtHaus Gallery, San Francisco, CA   In  Black and White: Monochromatic Paintings by Kenney Mencher and Caroline  Meyer 

2009  Dahlia Woods Gallery, Dallas, Texas  Cool  Shades, Kenney Mencher and Linda Sheets 

2008  Art Museum of Los Gatos, California Sex, Politics and Misogyny Peter Langenbach  and Kenney Mencher 

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 

2011  ArtHaus Gallery, San Francisco, CA   The  Men's Room 

2010 Elliott Fouts  Gallery, Sacramento, CA   Go Figure 

2010 ArtHaus Gallery,  San Francisco, California,   Resurgence 

2008 ArtHaus Gallery,  San Francisco,   California Figurative  Works by Gallery and Guest Artists 

2007 Klaudia Marr,  Santa Fe, NM 14th   14th Annual Realism  Invitational 2007 

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

THINGS IN PRINT 

"Renovated Reputations Paintings and Fiction  Painted and edited by Kenney Mencher" by Joshua Rose,  American Art  Collector February 2012 

Kenney  Mencher Renovates Reputations at the Art Museum of Los Gatos  KQED By Ben Marks | Dec 12, 2011   

Shotgun Review Kenney  Mencher and Carolyn Meyer: in BLACK and WHITE by Mary Anne Kluth Arthaus  (Editor's  Note: This review was originally intended for publication in Artweek.)  July 18, 2009

In  BLACK and WHITE Submitted by bbamsey on May 8, 2009

Bear Flavored, Aki Choklat and Christian Trippe, (Veenman  Publishers: London) 2007   

“Brushing Up: A Handle on Glass" Kenney Mencher,   The Artist Magazine, November 2007 

“Return of the Maltese Falcon" Envy Magazine, September  2007 

“Variations on a Theme" Kenney Mencher,  The Artist  Magazine, June 2007     

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  BeeFriday, 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.

ILLUSTRATIONS  Jonathan Woods, Bad Juju and other Tales of Madness  and Mayhem, (New Pulp Press) 2010 Cover Design and Illustration 

Dave Zeltserman,  21 Tales from the Modern Master  of Noir, (New Pulp Press) 2010 Cover Design and Illustration   

Gil Brewer, Flight to Darkness, (New Pulp Press) 2010  Cover Design and Illustration 

Hannah Gerber, How to Grow Up and other Poems, (Outskirts  Press, Denver CO) 2007 Cover Illustration

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