SLAM, CAM to present works by Juanita McNeely as part of Counterpublic 2026

ST. LOUIS, June 9, 2026—In collaboration with Counterpublic, a triennial exhibition in St. Louis, the Saint Louis Art Museum along with the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis are opening the first-ever solo presentations of works by the late artist Juanita McNeely in her hometown.

A free exhibition, Juanita McNeely opens Sept. 10 at SLAM, bringing together more than five decades of work across painting, drawing and ceramics. The exhibition foregrounds McNeely’s distinct approach to figuration and her sustained focus on the body as a site of vulnerability, desire and resilience. A related presentation of McNeely’s work will be on view at CAM as part of Counterpublic.

Born in Ferguson and educated in the St. Louis region, McNeeley studied at the School of Fine Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, where she began to develop a practice grounded in lived experience. Rendered through direct and unflinching depictions of the human form, her work addresses the intensity and scale of pain, pleasure, and the complexities of embodiment through a frank and forthright visual language.

Profound personal experiences shaped the direction of McNeeley’s practice. A cancer survivor in her youth, McNeely later moved to New York, where she was active in feminist circles including Women Artists in Revolution and Redstockings. In the years preceding Roe v. Wade, her experience seeking an abortion informed a body of work that directly and viscerally engages with the politics of womanhood.

McNeely sustained a spinal injury in the 1980s that left her using a wheelchair. Despite her physical challenges, McNeely continued to produce large-scale paintings that depict the body in states of tension and transformation. Across all her work, figures remain elastic and precarious, resisting containment within the picture plane.

In SLAM’s exhibition, a broad selection of paintings, drawings and ceramics traces the evolution of her practice. During her lifetime, McNeeley often cited the museum’s collection, particularly works by Max Beckmann, Paul Gauguin and Henri Matisse, as formative to her development. Presented in dialogue with these references, her work benefits from additional depth and context.

At CAM, a focused presentation centers on a monumental 13-panel painting, Triskaidekaptych (1986). Among McNeeley’s largest works, these canvases bring together human and animal forms pushed to their emotional and physical limits. Rendered in a vivid chromatic palette and animated by rapid brushstrokes, the painting stages a surface in flux.