Discover Megan Rooney: Innovative Multidisciplinary Artist

Megan Rooney is a Canadian born multidisciplinary artist living in London, an enigmatic storyteller whose work expands across painting, performance, sculpture and installation.

A multidisciplinary artist seated on the floor in front of a large abstract blue mural, with a lift in the background. — Megan Rooney in front of *Echoes & Hours* (2024), mural at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge. Photo: Camilla Greenwell – source

The best way to feel the power of her artistry, especially the colour, is to watch this video of her latest exhibition, Yellow Yellow Blue, at Ely House, London (August, 2025)

Rooney presents layers of ethereal forms, often sanded back and painted over multiple times to create abstracted narratives without a discernible beginning or end – Thaddaeus Ropac gallery

A large-scale abstract mural with soft colors including pinks, peaches, and yellows, occupying an entire wall in a contemporary art gallery. — *Fire on the Mountain,* 2019, acrylic, pencil, pastel, and wall paint. Installation view, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf –source

Rooney is best known for these large-scale, lyrical, painterly abstract canvases, dreamlike compositions with recurring characters and motifs.

An art gallery space featuring large-scale colorful murals on the walls and striking concrete pillars, with a subtle arrangement of artistic objects in the center. — Installation View, Hush Sky Murmur Hole, MOCA Toronto, 2020- source

For her first major solo exhibition in Canada (above), Rooney transformed a floor of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Toronto in a large-scale mural, making use of all original walls. This site-specific work was home to characters and scenarios composed from everyday household materials, found objects, stuffed fabrics and paint.

An abstract painting featuring vibrant colors, primarily deep blues, purples, and bold yellows, in a dynamic composition. — Carried Away, Acrylic, oil, pastel and oil stick on canvas, 160 x 320 cm (62.99 x 125.98 in) – source

Rooney is also well known for performance art, such as at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge in 2024 (below)

Two performers interact in front of an abstract colorful background, showcasing a moment of tension during a performance art piece. — See original video here

The performance below was part of Fire on the Mountain (2019) in Germany.

A group of performers in flowing garments moves in front of a large, colorful abstract mural, showcasing vibrant hues of pink, orange, and purple. — Megan Rooney: Everywhere Been There. Performance at Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 2019. Photo: Katja Illner

Rooney completed her MFA in Fine Arts at Goldsmiths College in London in 2011, after finishing her BA at the University of Toronto and growing up between South Africa, Brazil and Canada. Rooney’s work has been widely exhibited internationally, including at Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Salzburger Kunstverein, Biennial, Lyon, France, Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw Poland, The Serpentine Galleries, London, Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, and Espace Louis Vuitton, Beijing.