Margaret Kilgallen. Main Drag, installation view, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, 2008. 2000, Mixed media installation, dimensions variable.
Margaret Kilgallen was an influential contemporary artist in the San Fransisco Bay's Mission School movement. Kilgallen's art, which is often largely text, was influenced heavily by her early career as a book conservator for the San Fransisco Public Library. In addition to typography Kilgallen's work reflect strong influences from the folk art tradition.
I was lucky enough to see an installation of Kilgallen's work at the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston, Texas during their 2008 exhibition of The Old, Weird America. The installation, set up in one corner of the museum was beautifully overwhelming. The hand-painted lettered signs, a theme in much of Kilgallen's work, are crisp, clean, and overpowering while at the same time approachable and inviting. The warm, neutral colors that resonate in all her works transport you to the idea of a hot and dry Summer afternoon in an almost-but-not-quite-yet downtownish street. You would be walking down this street, absorbed in your own thoughts about the awful heat or your lack of motivation to do anything this Summer but think about the awful heat and your lack of motivation. You turn the corner quickly -- Did you just stumble over that broken concrete? Did anyone see that? No? Good. -- you kneel down to tie your shoes, come back up, and in front of you, a huge mural painted on the side of an building that you never realized was there. Suddenly, you're brought back to the present. You pause. You stand. You're weight is evenly distributed between your feet. You can't move. You stand. You forget about the heat. But then, you realize you're not in the heat. You're not even outside. It is not even the awful Texas Summer. Rather, you're inside, in a museum, their air conditioner blowing on top of your hair making you shiver and jump a little. And you're staring at this large and imposing installation that seems so different from anything else around you. Once you've realized all your friends left you for the gift shop downstairs you began to back away from the corner. You trip. Your shoe is still untied.
Margaret Kilgallen's work, though I had seen it numerous times before, still had this overwhelming power to move me in a way that few artists have done since.
The book, In the Sweet Bye & Bye, published in conjunction with her 2005 posthumous retrospective show by the same name, tops out as one of my favorite books. Though not as impressive as getting the chance to see the work in real life, it is worth to have in any art book collection.
Margaret Kilgallen, Installation at Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, 1999. Mixed media installation, dimensions variable.
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Margaret Kilgallen's "Currently digging . . ." post is Part One in a series that doesn't yet have a Part Two.
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