New York, NY, October 6, 2026: Very few artists have painted a sitting or former American president from life. Gilbert Stuart did it with George Washington. Elaine de Kooning sketched John F. Kennedy in Palm Beach. Now Elijah McKenzie-Jackson, a Gen Z painter, has painted former President Bill Clinton the same way: in person, with no photograph as reference, following him from the stage through meeting rooms at the Clinton Global Initiative's 20th anniversary summit over roughly twenty-four hours.

The portrait anchors a new series of six oil paintings, The Ballroom Across 6th Avenue, Two Floors Up, 10:30 Sharp, which goes on view online on October 7, 2026. Begun at the summit in September 2025 and completed this year in the artist's studio, each canvas measures 36 by 40 inches.

A PORTRAIT MADE IN MOTION. Most presidential portraits today are made from photographs, in staged sittings, and approved before anyone sees them. McKenzie-Jackson worked the old way, from observation, as the summit unfolded around him. The canvases are flat and pared back, built from a single blue and cut by vertical bands, closer to a screen print than a state portrait. The interpretation is entirely his own.

"Portraiture, done honestly, is never really about the subject," said McKenzie-Jackson. "It's about what the subject is made to carry."

ONE ROOM, SIX PORTRAITS. Alongside the president, McKenzie-Jackson painted five others from the same room at the same scale: Hillary Clinton, philanthropist Tom Golisano, founder Elaine Welteroth, a server clearing the water glasses, and himself. Hung together, they place a former president and a worker side by side, at equal size.

THE WORKS. Six oil paintings, each 36 x 40 inches: The President (Bill Clinton), The Nominee (Hillary Clinton), The Billionaire (Tom Golisano), The Founder (Elaine Welteroth), The Worker ("Maria," a pseudonym; she is not a public figure), and The Artist (self-portrait).

ABOUT THE ARTIST. Elijah McKenzie-Jackson is a Gen Z painter and climate activist who recently relocated from London to Washington, DC. His work has been exhibited at the United Nations' COP28 Youth & Culture Pavilion in Dubai and above Times Square on New Year's Eve. Named among The New York Times' "8 Global Youth Protest Leaders" and a 2024 Shorty Award winner, he is the author of the artist book BLUE (Olympia Publishers, 2025) and co-founder of the climate nonprofit WaicUp.

More on the artist and the series: www.elijahmckenziejackson.com
Hi-res images: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1oDg7RxifVNL159hQtW24y68ExtEg89mk?usp=sharing
Media contact: Alex Young, [email protected]