K.A. McFadden is a white person with blonde hair, bangs, & glasses with rainbow-hued frames. They wear a patterned scarf.

K.A. McFadden

BSR Contributor Since October 31, 2023

K.A. McFadden (she/they) is a writer, artist, and adjunct professor in the Philadelphia and South Jersey region teaching art history and philosophy.

Dr. K.A. McFadden holds a certificate in painting and printmaking from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. They subsequently attended the University of Pennsylvania earning the BFA and MFA. A Ph.D. was granted by the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts in Aesthetics and Art Theory. They are an independent scholar, and their essays and art exhibition reviews have been published in numerous academic art journals. McFadden’s interest and developing expertise is the thoughtful acknowledgement of women’s contributions to the art historical canon which evoke important philosophical questions around equity and inclusion. A chapter about the painter Suzanne Valadon was recently published in an anthology titled The Aestheticization of History and the Butterfly Effect. McFadden maintains a painting and drawing practice in addition to teaching philosophy and art history for regional colleges and universities.

By this Author

4 results
Page 1
Woman in green with lavish feather accessories leans intimately on the shoulder of another in gray & black, holding a book

The Barnes Foundation presents Marie Laurencin: Sapphic Paris

Queer context for the early 20th century
With radically sweet images of women and hardly a man in sight, painter Marie Laurencin constructed a world of female friendship, camaraderie, and low-key eroticism, as explored in a new exhibition at the Barnes. K.A. McFadden reviews.
K.A. McFadden

K.A. McFadden

Reviews 4 minute read
A stylized woman sits in a chair next to a large flower bouquet, a book in her lap and her cheek leaning on one hand.

The Barnes Foundation presents Matisse & Renoir: New Encounters at the Barnes

The OGs of their genres
A new exhibition from the Barnes draws on the best of the foundation’s extensive collection of works by Matisse and Renoir and places them in conversation with each other. K.A. McFadden reviews.
K.A. McFadden

K.A. McFadden

Reviews 4 minute read
Collage work of bold prints shows a Black woman in repose, looking calmly outward, her eyes created by a black & white photo

The Barnes Foundation presents Mickalene Thomas: All About Love

A sparkling philosophy of love
A new multimedia exhibition at the Barnes featuring New Jersey native Mickalene Thomas celebrates queer existence and the female gaze with mixed-media painting, collage, photography, video, and more. K.A. McFadden reviews.
K.A. McFadden

K.A. McFadden

Reviews 4 minute read
Bright oil painting of two older Black people smiling and comfortably holding hands on a bench on a chilly, sunny day.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art presents The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure

A historic, absorbing exhibition
A new PMA exhibition curated by Ekow Eshun gathers 28 contemporary artists from across the Black and African diaspora in the US and UK, exploring Blackness as lived experience rather than social construct. K.A. McFadden reviews.
K.A. McFadden

K.A. McFadden

Reviews 4 minute read