Michael McKeown was born in Gateshead, England. He attended Art School at sixteen in Preston, England. At eighteen, He attended Manchester Polytechnic graduating with a BA in Sculpture. McKeown won a scholarship from The Royal College of Art in London to study at the New York Studio School. He had his first one-person-show in NYC at the John Davis Gallery in SOHO in 1989. During the 1990s shows included theWeatherspoon Museum and Arti in Amsterdam. Recent work has been shown in London, Helsinki, Art Basel Switzerland, Berlin Germany, Art Basel Miami, and New York City.