Margaret Kilgallen
Encyclopedia
Margaret Leisha Kilgallen (October 28, 1967 – June 26, 2001) was a San Francisco Bay Area
artist. Though a contemporary artist, her work showed a strong influence from folk art
. She was considered a central figure in the Bay Area Mission School
art movement.
and grew up nearby in Kensington, Maryland
. She received a BA in printmaking
from Colorado College
in 1989 and an MFA
from Stanford University
in 2001.
Kilgallen died in 2001, at age 33, from complications of breast cancer
three weeks after the birth of Asha, her daughter with her husband and collaborator Barry McGee
. Kilgallen has since been the subject of several posthumous retrospectives.
Kilgallen's first major group exhibitions appeared in 1997 and included the first Bay Area Now show at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
, soon followed by a solo exhibition at The Drawing Center in New York City
. In 2000, she and Barry McGee
had a featured exhibition at the UCLA Hammer Museum
. A number of major exhibitions took place after her death. In 2002, her work was chosen for that year's Whitney Biennial
. In 2005, a survey of her work was shown at the Gallery at REDCAT
. Her work was also an important part of the 2004–2006 touring exhibit, Beautiful Losers: Contemporary Art and Street Culture.
Other galleries that have exhibited her work include the Luggage Store in San Francisco; Gallery 16 in San Francisco; Forum for Contemporary Art in St. Louis
; the Institute of Contemporary Art
in Philadelphia; and The Geffen Contemporary at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.
folk art
, mural
painting, and a variety of formal painting strategies. At an early age, she was impressed by examples of works by Southwest
and Mexican artists, and she employed these artists' use of warm colors in her own painting. Her many works in gouache
and acrylic
on found paper
(often discarded book endpaper
s) reflect an interest in typographic styles and symbology that can be traced to her work as a book conservator
with Dan Flanagan at the San Francisco Public Library
in the early to mid-1990s.
In addition to her commissioned mural work, Kilgallen was also a graffiti artist under the tag names "Meta" and "Matokie Slaughter." The latter name, a homage to folk musician Matokie Slaughter
, was specifically used for freight train
graffiti, a hobo
tradition that strongly influenced her work. Kilgallen was an accomplished banjo
player and became an avid surfer
after moving to California.
, Chris Johanson
, Josh Lazcano, Alicia McCarthy, Clare Rojas, Amy Franceschini
, Thomas Campbell
, Dan Flanagan, Symantha Gates, Nell Gould, filmmaker Bill Daniel
, and musician Tommy Guerrero
, for whom she designed album covers.
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
artist. Though a contemporary artist, her work showed a strong influence from folk art
Folk art
Folk art encompasses art produced from an indigenous culture or by peasants or other laboring tradespeople. In contrast to fine art, folk art is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic....
. She was considered a central figure in the Bay Area Mission School
Mission School
The Mission School is an art movement of the 1990s and 2000s, centered in the Mission District of San Francisco, California.-History and characteristics:...
art movement.
Life and career
Kilgallen was born in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and grew up nearby in Kensington, Maryland
Kensington, Maryland
Kensington is a town in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. The population was 1,873 at the 2000 census. Greater Kensington encompasses the entire 20895 zip code and its population is an order of magnitude larger than that of the town at its center....
. She received a BA in printmaking
Printmaking
Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Printmaking normally covers only the process of creating prints with an element of originality, rather than just being a photographic reproduction of a painting. Except in the case of monotyping, the process is capable...
from Colorado College
Colorado College
The Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell...
in 1989 and an MFA
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in 2001.
Kilgallen died in 2001, at age 33, from complications of breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
three weeks after the birth of Asha, her daughter with her husband and collaborator Barry McGee
Barry McGee
Barry McGee is a painter and graffiti artist. He is also known by monikers such as Ray Fong, Lydia Fong, Bernon Vernon, P.Kin, Ray Virgil, Twist and further variations of Twist, such as Twister, Twisty, Twisto and others.-Life and career:McGee graduated from El Camino High School in South...
. Kilgallen has since been the subject of several posthumous retrospectives.
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is a multi-disiplinary contemporary arts center in San Francisco, California, United States. Located in Yerba Buena Gardens, YBCA features visual art, performance, and film/video that celebrates local, national, and international artists and the Bay Area's diverse...
, soon followed by a solo exhibition at The Drawing Center in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. In 2000, she and Barry McGee
Barry McGee
Barry McGee is a painter and graffiti artist. He is also known by monikers such as Ray Fong, Lydia Fong, Bernon Vernon, P.Kin, Ray Virgil, Twist and further variations of Twist, such as Twister, Twisty, Twisto and others.-Life and career:McGee graduated from El Camino High School in South...
had a featured exhibition at the UCLA Hammer Museum
Hammer Museum
The Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Culture Center, or the Hammer Museum as it is more commonly known, is an art museum in the Westwood district of Los Angeles, California...
. A number of major exhibitions took place after her death. In 2002, her work was chosen for that year's Whitney Biennial
Whitney Biennial
The Whitney Biennial is a biennale exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, USA. The event began as an annual exhibition in 1932, the first biennial was in 1973...
. In 2005, a survey of her work was shown at the Gallery at REDCAT
REDCAT
Opened November 2003, REDCAT is a contemporary arts center that is an extension of CalArts campus, and serves as the professional presenting arm of the Institute...
. Her work was also an important part of the 2004–2006 touring exhibit, Beautiful Losers: Contemporary Art and Street Culture.
Other galleries that have exhibited her work include the Luggage Store in San Francisco; Gallery 16 in San Francisco; Forum for Contemporary Art in St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
; the Institute of Contemporary Art
Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia
The Institute of Contemporary Art or ICA is a contemporary art museum located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The museum is associated with the University of Pennsylvania, and is located on its campus. The Institute is one of the country's leading museums dedicated to exhibiting the innovative...
in Philadelphia; and The Geffen Contemporary at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.
Work
Kilgallen's paintings and murals reflected a variety of influences, including the dying art of hand-painted signs, elements of AmericanUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
folk art
Folk art
Folk art encompasses art produced from an indigenous culture or by peasants or other laboring tradespeople. In contrast to fine art, folk art is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic....
, mural
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
painting, and a variety of formal painting strategies. At an early age, she was impressed by examples of works by Southwest
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
and Mexican artists, and she employed these artists' use of warm colors in her own painting. Her many works in gouache
Gouache
Gouache[p], also spelled guache, the name of which derives from the Italian guazzo, water paint, splash or bodycolor is a type of paint consisting of pigment suspended in water. A binding agent, usually gum arabic, is also present, just as in watercolor...
and acrylic
Acrylic paint
Acrylic paint is fast drying paint containing pigment suspension in acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylic paints can be diluted with water, but become water-resistant when dry...
on found paper
Paper
Paper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
(often discarded book endpaper
Endpaper
The endpapers or end-papers of a book are the leaves of paper before the title page and after the text. Booksellers sometimes refer to the front end paper as FEP....
s) reflect an interest in typographic styles and symbology that can be traced to her work as a book conservator
Art conservation and restoration
Conservation-restoration, also referred to as conservation, is a profession devoted to the preservation of cultural heritage for the future. Conservation activities include examination, documentation, treatment, and preventive care...
with Dan Flanagan at the San Francisco Public Library
San Francisco Public Library
The San Francisco Public Library is a public library system serving the city of San Francisco. Its main library is located in San Francisco's Civic Center, at 100 Larkin Street at Grove. The first public library of San Francisco officially opened in 1879, just 30 years after the California Gold...
in the early to mid-1990s.
In addition to her commissioned mural work, Kilgallen was also a graffiti artist under the tag names "Meta" and "Matokie Slaughter." The latter name, a homage to folk musician Matokie Slaughter
Matokie Slaughter
Matokie Worrell Slaughter was an American clawhammer banjo player....
, was specifically used for freight train
Freight train
A freight train or goods train is a group of freight cars or goods wagons hauled by one or more locomotives on a railway, ultimately transporting cargo between two points as part of the logistics chain...
graffiti, a hobo
Hobo
A hobo is a term which is often applied to a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, often penniless. The term originated in the Western—probably Northwestern—United States during the last decade of the 19th century. Unlike 'tramps', who work only when they are forced to, and 'bums', who do not...
tradition that strongly influenced her work. Kilgallen was an accomplished banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
player and became an avid surfer
Surfing
Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...
after moving to California.
Influences
Kilgallen was an avid reader and thinker, looking to Appalachian music, signage, letterpress printing, hobo train writing, and religious and decorative arts to inform her work. Her work demonstrates her respect for and engagement with craftsmanship and the stories of everyday peoples' lives. She was especially interested in "the evidence of the maker's hand." As she explained:I like things that are handmade and I like to see people's hand in the world, anywhere in the world; it doesn't matter to me where it is. And in my own work, I do everything by hand. I don't project or use anything mechanical, because even though I do spend a lot of time trying to perfect my line work and my hand, my hand will always be imperfect because it's human. And I think it's the part that's off that's interesting, that even if I'm doing really big letters and I spend a lot of time going over the line and over the line and trying to make it straight, I'll never be able to make it straight. From a distance it might look straight, but when you get close up, you can always see the line waver. And I think that's where the beauty is.
Relationship to other artists
Kilgallen had close ties with a number of other artists. These artists include, besides her husband and collaborator Barry McGeeBarry McGee
Barry McGee is a painter and graffiti artist. He is also known by monikers such as Ray Fong, Lydia Fong, Bernon Vernon, P.Kin, Ray Virgil, Twist and further variations of Twist, such as Twister, Twisty, Twisto and others.-Life and career:McGee graduated from El Camino High School in South...
, Chris Johanson
Chris Johanson
Chris Johanson is an American painter and street artist. He is a member of San Francisco's Mission School art movement.- Biography :Johanson was born in suburban San Jose, California in 1968. He has no formal training in art, learning some technique by painting skateboards and houses...
, Josh Lazcano, Alicia McCarthy, Clare Rojas, Amy Franceschini
Amy Franceschini
Amy Franceschini is a contemporary American artist and designer. Her practice spans a broad range of media including drawing, sculpture, design, net art, public art and gardening.She is a 2010 Guggenheim Fellow....
, Thomas Campbell
Thomas Campbell (visual artist)
Thomas Campbell is a California-based visual artist whose work has appeared on the Ugly Casanova album Sharpen Your Teeth and in Juxtapoz Magazine's September 2006 issue....
, Dan Flanagan, Symantha Gates, Nell Gould, filmmaker Bill Daniel
Bill Daniel (Filmmaker)
Bill Daniel is an American experimental documentary film artist, photographer, film editor, and cinematographer. He is also an installation artist, curator and former zine publisher...
, and musician Tommy Guerrero
Tommy Guerrero
Tommy Guerrero is an American skateboarder and musician. As a teen, he was one of the prominent members of the Bones Brigade, Powell Peralta's professional skateboarding team that was successful during the 1980s...
, for whom she designed album covers.
Further reading
- Berry, Colin. (2003). Like a folk tale. PrintPrint (magazine)The publication, Print, A Quarterly Journal of the Graphic Arts, was a limited edition quarterly periodical begun in 1940 and continued under different names up to the present day as Print, a bimonthly American magazine about visual culture and design.In its current format, Print documents and...
57(1):102-107. (Abstract) - Rose, Aaron and Strike, Christian (editors). (2004). Beautiful Losers: Contemporary Art and Street Culture. ISBN 1-891024-74-4
External links
- Biography, interviews, essays, artwork images and video clips from PBSPublic Broadcasting ServiceThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
series Art:21 -- Art in the Twenty-First Century - Season 1 (2001). - "Margaret Kilgallen, a San Francisco Artist, Dies at 33" by Roberta Smith, New York Times, July 4, 2001.
- "S.F. graffiti artist Margaret Kilgallen" by David Bonetti, San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chroniclethumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, July 7, 2001. - "Rising young artist Margaret Kilgallen dead at 33" by John Sanford, Stanford Report, July 23, 2001.
- "Elegy for Margaret" by Stephanie Lee Jackson.
- "Margaret Kilgallen, Gallery 16" by Maria Porges, ArtForum, May 1997.
- "Femme Vital: Margaret Kilgallen Hand in Hand" by Michele Lockwood, Super X Media #2.2, 1998.
- "Art in Review: Margaret Kilgallen — 'To Friend and Foe'" by Holland Cotter, New York Times, October 1, 1999.
- "Finding Margaret - a project at the Luggage Store Gallery" by sketchypad.