Shaina McCoy

Painter
Los Angeles, CA

Shaina McCoy

Bio

Originally from Minneapolis, MN, artist Shaina McCoy now lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Working with richly hued oil paints, McCoy creates selectively-colored canvases that depict imagery drawn from photographs of family members and other people close to her. Finding a formal balance between artists such as Mary Cassatt and Ernie Barnes, McCoy builds faceless figures from thick, tactile layers of glossy paint, resulting in vibrant paintings of revered sitters who remain anonymous, yet familiar. McCoy’s work captures the ambiguous and familiar essence of memory, radiating both history and wonder.

Artist Portrait by Denita Turner

INSPIRATION
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Alice Neel, Egone Schiele, David Hockney, Nikki Giovanni, Stevie Wonder

HIGHLIGHTS
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McCoy holds an AA in Fine Art from Minneapolis Community and Technical College and also attended the famed Perpich Art Academy in Apple Valley, Minnesota.

Solo Exhibitions

2024 - When There’s Nothing Left, Simchowitz Hill House, Los Angeles, CA
No Tears For The Sun, Stems, Paris, France
2023 - More about Everything, Stems, Brussels, Belgium At Play, Duarte Sequeira, Seoul, South Korea
The Gaze, A Hug from the Art World, New York, NY
2022  - Apples and Oranges, Simchowitz, Los Angeles, CA, Cadillac4, Galeria Duarte Sequeira, Braga, Portugal 
2021 - BABIES HOLDIN’ BABIES, Stems Gallery, Paris, France, B is for, Stems, Brussels, Belgium
2020 - Father, Father, François Ghebaly, Los Angeles, CA
2019 - Bread and Butter, Ever Gold [Projects], San Francisco, CA

Selected Group Exhibitions

2025 - Gathered at the Well, Sabbatikal, Santa Monica, CA, Kith’s 2025 Black History Month’s Artist Series, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
2024 - Nice to Finally Meet You, Good Mother Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, HILL HOUSE, Simchowitz Hill House, Los Angeles, CA, Behind Color, Jac Forbes Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA, Art Melanated Presents Our Celebration of Stevie Wonder, Art Melanated, Atlanta, GA
2023 -  Art Melanated Presents Our Celebration of Stevie Wonder, Art Melanated, Los Angeles, CA, GUMBO, Gallery Anthony, Chicago, IL, Elixer, TLALOC Studios, Los Angeles, CA, Eros is an In-Between, Rift Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA, So Close Yet So Far, Bode Projects, Berlin, Germany
2022 -  Branded Arts Festival, Branded Arts, New York, NY, Stems x Arsenal, Arsenal Contemporary Art, New York, NY 
2021 - Shape of an Image, WAOW Gallery, Hong Kong, The Interior, Venus Over Manhattan, New York, NY
2020 - Body in Motion Traveling Bodies, Stems, Brussels, Belgium, Riders of the Red Horse, The Pit, Los Angeles, CA
2019 - The Flat Files, The Pit, Los Angeles, CA, Gold Standard: Ten Year Anniversary Exhibition, Ever Gold [Projects], San Francisco, CA
2018 - Astral Art Theories, Radisson RED, Minneapolis, MN, 33 Works By 3 Artists, Ever Gold [Projects], San Francisco, CA
2017 - Now More Than Always (Gimme Gimme the Money Please Please I Want the Money Please), Gildar Gallery, Denver, CO
2015 - OverNorth Part 2, Venture North, Minneapolis, MN, Rapper’s Delight, City Wide Artists Gallery, Minneapolis, MN

ARTIST STATEMENT
"My work is composed of paintings that are made mostly after my Pop Pop's (grandpa) photography. I like to think of it as our life-long collaboration. The paintings mimic the composition of photographs cropped to a snapshot in time. Oil paint is applied generously to the canvas as a celebration of family. Nostalgia is the focal point. I linger around the actions of smiling, being held, being loved on, being adored, posing for school photos, and all candid moments. I paint to normalize and celebrate Blackness. I paint to connect with people who may not look like me. I paint to demand the viewers to become mirrors of this outpour of tenderness. I paint to remember what my loved ones' essence was when they are no longer earth-bound. I am in awe and inspired by the many ways love shows up in family and community. THAT is what drives my work."

Studio Beats

I always love listening to Stevie Wonder. As of late, I have been listening to a lot of Janet Jackson. When I need energy, I am also a huge Kelela fan! She has a great way of giving me energy when I need it or calming me down.

  • Stan, 2025
    Stan, 2025
    Shaina-McCoy

    Stan, 2025

    $7,500.00
    $7,500.00
    Quick view
  • Jimi, 2025
    Jimi, 2025
    Shaina McCoy

    Jimi, 2025

    $7,500.00
    $7,500.00
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  • Amy, 2024
    Amy, 2024
    Shaina McCoy

    Amy, 2024

    $7,500.00
    $7,500.00
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  • Diana, 2025
    Diana, 2025
    Shaina McCoy

    Diana, 2025

    $7,500.00
    $7,500.00
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  • Nina, 2024
    Nina, 2024
    Shaina McCoy

    Nina, 2024

    $7,500.00
    $7,500.00
    Quick view