About
Mara Kuijl received her BA in Art with a minor in Education from Queens College in 2004, and a MFA in painting from the New York Academy of Art, Graduate School of Figurative Art in 2007. At the New York Academy of Art, Mara studied with Will Cotton, Steven Assael, Marta Meyer Erlbacher, Wade Schuman, John Jacobsmeyer, Debra Goertz and Dan Thompson. She additionally studied at the Art Students League of New York, among others Sharon Sprung and Michael Grimaldi. She has studied privately at Caravaggio Inc. (run by Peter Cox) and Pugliese Studios (run by Christopher Pugliese). Mara believes the concept behind the art is just as important as the technical aspect of the art making process. She strives to create art that fuses both in an interesting way.
Coming from a family of artists and musicians, as well as the rich cultural Dutch background, Mara’s work bares clear reference to her heritage. The didactic nature of Dutch culture is reflected in Kuijl’s idea that art has to contribute to society in one form or another. Her earlier work reflects the fact that Dutch society is the most emancipated and sexually liberated society in the world. Her later work reflects attention to detail and desire to depict banal objects (and people) in an elevated manner harking back to Calvinistic tendencies in Dutch society that value modesty and plain life. Mara Kuijl currently lives and works part of the year in New York City, as well as Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Mara is part of the Continuing Education Faculty at the New York Academy of Art, where she teaches Figure Drawing. She also teaches privately out of her studio.