Margaret Fitzgerald
Margaret Fitzgerald, Tundra, 2020, oil on drop cloth, 45 x 44 in.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Margaret Fitzgerald’s works in oil on canvas investigate ideas of construction and deconstruction through the use of multiple layers of paint and content, striking a juxtaposition between deliberate and spontaneous compositional elements.
Kenneth Baker, in his San Francisco Chronicle review wrote that Fitzgerald "works with a fine disregard for the refinements possible to her art form. (...) The big shapes in Fitzgerald’s canvases, some hinting at rudimentary imagery, encourage viewing at a distance. But much worth seeing occurs in areas where she has scored or scraped away the topmost paint layers to let bright underpainting wink through.”
The artist describes her process as “seeking something familiar…with each painting I want to dig deeper, move beyond the limitations of words and evoke an emotional response. I want to catch a glimpse of the intangible human experience."
Margaret Fitzgerald was born in London, England. She grew up in Japan and the 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 also studied at the Instituto Allende in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and received a Bachelor of Fine Art from the University of New Mexico.
Margaret has enjoyed solo shows in New York City, San Francisco and New Mexico. Her work is in private and corporate collections across the United States and abroad.
ARTIST STATEMENT
“The principle forces behind my work are the New Mexico landscape, environmental degradation and the tension between the two. My paintings reflect my person: current and accumulated ideas and painting methods. Along with this process is a constant searching to break self inflicted parameters and barriers.
The landscape of New Mexico, where I have lived for most of my life, is a force that drives my work. The open sky, mountain ranges, rivers and desert all inform my work. Mixed with this visceral ebb and flow, decay and growth of nature is the tension of environmental degradation. Man’s driving force to destroy the earth is ever present. It is this tension between mankind and the natural world that has been a concern of mine for many years.
My paintings are also a reflection of my past 30 years of making art. They reflect the accumulation of experiences, ideas and painting processes. Each new body of work builds on the work before it, expressing ideas and experimenting with new painting techniques – pushing my use of paint, composition color palette and challenging
old constraints. With each new body of work I hope to reveal a more visceral, unclear place based on intuition and instinct where tension and beauty exist simultaneously."
Inquire about available artwork here or call 505-372-7681
Underground Treasure, 2023, acrylic and oil on canvas, 65 x 50 in.
Treading Water, 2023, acrylic and oil on canvas, 90 x 80 in.
Peace Sign, 2021, oil and oil stick on canvas, 64 x 60 in.
Arroyo, 2023, acrylic, oil, and pencil on canvas, 40 x 36 in.
Horizon Line, 2023, acrylic, oil, and spray on canvas, 41 x 35 in.
She Said, 2022, acrylic and oil on canvas, 92 x 82 in.