Margaret Fitzgerald: Natura

MargaretFitzgerald N AT U R A

MargaretFitzgerald N AT U R A

MAY 4 - 27 . 2012

LewAllenGalleries Railyard: 1613 Paseo De Peralta Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 tel 505.988.3250 Downtown: 125 West Palace Avenue Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 tel 505.988.8997 www.lewallencontemporary.com cover: Push and Pull, 2012, oil on canvas, 60” x 50”

Margaret Fitzgerald: Natura within multiple layers of paint. By repeatedly adding and subtracting materials she creates a final image that is not only more complex and rich than the original, but also more balanced. This spirited body of work demonstrates Fitzgerald’s ability to forge a striking juxtaposition between deliberate and spontaneous compositional elements.

Natura, a body of new oil paintings by Margaret Fitzgerald, showcases dynamic compositions that combine allusive and abstract forms.

For Fitzgerald, inspiration is culled from “the intersection between natural and the man made.”

Fitzgerald’s new body of work is informed by an ongoing fascination with the interaction between the natural and manufactured environments.

Fitzgerald, who has described her artistic practice as “an effort to evoke and tell stories about the physical and metaphysical worlds that we are a part of,” showcases her unique ability to create compositional relationships in which the intuitive merges with the deliberate.

Coupling vigorous paint application with diaristic gesture, Fitzgerald encourages a pictorial exploration of construction and deconstruction

Fitzgerald applies thick layers of oil paint to canvas, then scrapes through them to allow for the emergence of unanticipated patterns and colors. The process feels both accidental and intentional, forging a pictorial dialogue that is at once deeply personal and immediately accessible. Resulting compositions yield sumptuously impastoed surfaces characterized by rich color and extraordinary depth. Fitzgerald has long cited a desire to use pattern, texture, and color in various configurations to evoke the passage of time and thought, and for her, “the most interesting things in life are those that are not immediately visible but are revealed after a closer look.” Her technique involves both accidental and intentional form to create paintings of great solidity and complexity.

Born in London, Margaret Fitzgerald grew up in Japan and United States. She studied fine art and art history in New York City at the School of Visual Arts and the Art Students League. she attended the Instituto Allende in Mexico and the School of Visual Arts in New York City before receiving her BFA from the University of New Mexico. Extensive travels throughout Europe, Mexico and South America have inspired her work. She has exhibited her canvases throughout the Southwest, Midwest and California since the mid-1990s.

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Blossom, 2012, oil on canvas, 60” x 50”

Transpire, 2012, oil on canvas, 52” x 50”

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Padre, 2011, oil on canvas, 72” x 72”

Imagine, 2011, oil on canvas, 60” x 60”

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Surrender, 2012, oil on canvas, 20” x 20”

Prado, 2012, oil on canvas, 54” x 50”

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Compose, 2011, oil on canvas, 18” x 20”

Explore, 2011, oil on canvas, 84” x 84”

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Sanguine, 2012, oil on canvas, 84” x 84”

Matter, 2012, oil on canvas, 72” x 72”

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Connection, 2011, oil on canvas, 50” x 54”

Margaret Fitzgerald

Born: 1955, London, England Education: BFA, 1980, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2012 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM 2011 Heidi Cho Gallery, New York, NY 2010 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM 2009 Chandler Fine Art, San Francisco, CA 2008 Chandler Fine Art, San Francisco, CA 2006 Exhibit 204, Albuquerque, NM 2002 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM 2001 Museum West Fine Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2000 Coleman Gallery, Albuquerque, NM SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2012 Juried show, 516 Arts, Albuquerque, NM 2012 Group show, Exhbit 208, Albuquerque, NM 2010 A Prayer for Juarez, Gallery 1022, Albuquerque, NM 2009 516 Arts, Albuquerque, NM 2008 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM 2008 The Cradle Project, Albuquerque, NM 2008 Giving Shelter, 516 Arts, Albuquerque, NM 2007 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM 2007 AAF Art Fair, New York, NY 2005 U.S. Embassy Residence in Vatican City, The Holy See 2005 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM 2005 Lowe Gallery, Santa Monica, CA 2004 Amarillo Museum of Art, Amarillo, TX (invitational) 2004 Thomas Ingerick Gallery, Aspen, CO 2003 Thomas Ingerick Gallery, Aspen, CO 2003 Magnifico Gallery, Albuquerque, NM 2002 LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM 2002 Museum West Fine Art Gallery, Palo Alto, CA 2001 Albuquerque Museum of Fine Art, Albuquerque, NM

2000 2000 2000 2000 1999 1997 1995

Museum West Fine Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA Stacy Shane Design Gallery, Albuquerque, NM Occasions by Design Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ Harwood Gallery, Albuquerque, NM Gallery Building, Waterloo, IA Museum of Fine Art, Helena, MO Magnifico Gallery, Albuquerque, NM

SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, Las Vegas, NV The Venetian Macau Resort Hotel, Macau, Indonesia

“To me the most interesting things in life are those that are not immediately visible but are revealed after a closer look. When I look at an old wall on a city street I can see history and time in the layers of building materials, paper and writing that have been attached and unattached over time. The result of this is an abstract design created intentionally and accidentally.

In my painting I am interested in exploring form, pattern, color and texture to reveal the passage of time and thought. With layers of paint, scrapings, and accidental and intentional form I hope to create paintings with solidity and complexity.”

– Margaret Fitzgerald

Railyard: 1613 Paseo De Peralta Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 tel 505.988.3250 Downtown: 125 West Palace Avenue Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 tel 505.988.8997 www.lewallencontemporary.com