MARY JO MCGONAGLE
maryjomcgonagle@optonline.net

My graphic design background has had a huge influence on the art that I am creating. My art explores lines and shape, light and dark, positive and negative, texture and depth, order and disorder, their movement and their relationship to each other. The works are bold, large, and graphic. I am concerned with exploring controlled chaos, randomness, the unconsciousness and the energies that fill our society. I have created a series of organic abstractions, through a process that combines monotype with painting. They reflect the interactions, pressures, nonsense and conversations that are present in our everyday fate-filled lives. The paintings are a visual form of energy that can elicit varied responses.

Mary Jo has always been interested in art and creative thinking. Although she has a graphic design background, her first love is for fine arts and conceptual thinking. Her work is thought-provoking with a playful theme. Mary Jo is at home with painting, printmaking, metals, photography and technology. Her formal training was from School of Visual Arts in New York City in Graphic Design where she earned a BFA. She has continued her education at Silvermine School of Art, Parsons School of Design, Fordham University and the Creative Arts Workshop in New Haven. She is currently working on a MFA through Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

Mary Jo continues to be active in graphic design and advertising. She has worked as Curriculum Coordinator and a faculty member at Fairfield University, in the Computer Graphic Design Program. Her clients have included: Conde Nast Corporate, Reader's Digest, Travel Holiday, Warner Brothers, GQ, House & Garden, Seventeen, Vogue, Glamour, Mirabella, United Media and Holland Advertising. She is a member of The Nest Arts Factory, Bridgeport, CT, Fairfield Arts Council and the Creative Workshop. Her awards and recognitions include: Art Direction, Advertising Age, Connecticut Post, Communication Arts and Light of Day Awards. She has been a contributing artist to "New York Cow Parade" in Stamford, CT, Stamford, CT 's "Art in Public Places - Stamford Safari", Flinn Gallery's Chair Exhibition, Greenwich, CT, "Art in Public Places - Galaxy of Stars", Norwalk, Connecticut, Stamford, Connecticut's "Art in Public Places - Art-o-mobiles" and "The Doors" Milford, CT. 

Mary Jo resides in Fairfield, CT with her husband and four children.