MARCO MAGGI
[1957, Uruguay]
Maggi attended the State University of New York at New Paltz (SUNY New Paltz), graduating with an MFA in Printmaking in 1998. The medium, he has said, interested him not for its process, but for the way in which it provided a “threshold between two and three dimensions.” This formal interest connects directly to Maggi’s longstanding concern with the variability of knowledge—the way in which overwhelming amounts of information are disseminated flatly, deflecting introspection or focus. By making works that are both subtle and meticulous, Maggi encourages his viewers to slow down and reflect upon each object’s details and intricacies; that act, of slow looking, is a political act that runs counter to the dominant tendency to look quickly and superficially. Myopia, Maggi writes, is the “best answer to globalization…delicacy is a subversive activity and to pay attention is really shocking.”
New York-based Uruguayan artist Marco Maggi takes everyday objects such as photocopy paper, aluminum foil, apples, and parking mirrors as the foundations for his precisely rendered sculptures and drawings. Using humor, wordplay, and a range of visual allusions, Maggi uses his meticulous processes to explore the relationship between information and knowledge in our contemporary world.
In a series entitled The Ted Turner Collection – from CNN to the DNA, Maggi shows his acute critical sense by using reproductions of pieces by artists like Gerhard Richter, Andy Warhol, and Hélio Oiticica to comment on the mediatized condition of contemporary life. Heaps of white paper cover reproductions, slashed with precision to create reliefs and gaps that reveal traces of tones from the reproductions hidden underneath, forming a big white landscape spiked with small slits of color. The installations maintain the use of paper, but from a distance, the numerous heaps do not show their nature; one must come closer, become somewhat acquainted with the works and dedicate some time to find out what they reveal.
Maggi’s works have been a part of numerous important solo exhibitions, including Bienal de Cuenca, Ecuador (2012); inCUBAdora, Bienal de La Habana, Havana, Cuba (2003); Bienal de São Paulo, Brazil (2002); Global Myopia (Pencil & Paper), La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy (2015);
Construcciones & Demoliciones, dibujos en español, Centro Cultural Reina Sofia, Montevideo, Uruguay (2003); Language Descending a Staircase, East Wing Biennial at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, England, UK (2016); Gwangju Bienniale, South Korea (2004); “Desinformação funcional, desenhos em português,” Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo, Brazil (2012); By disappointment only, Josée Bienvenu Gallery, New York City, New York, USA (2007); No Idea, Museum of Latin American Art (MoLAA), Long Beach, California, USA (2012); Marco Maggi: The Gold and the Moor, Nara Roesler, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2017); Hotbed Online, Sala 1 – Centro Internazionale d’Arte Contemporanea, Rome, Italy (2002); and Esperando el 104, Xippas, Paris, France (2022).
Maggi’s works are represented in several major collections including Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, USA; Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros (CPPC), Caracas, Venezuela and New York City, New York, USA; Daros Latinamerica Collection, Zurich, Switzerland; de Young Museum, San Francisco, California, USA; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC, USA; Indianapolis Contemporary, Indiana, USA; Judith Rothschild Foundation, New York City, New York, USA; Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, USA; The Morgan Library & Museum, New York City, New York, USA; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), Massachusetts, USA; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), Texas, USA; Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York City, New York, USA; San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), California, USA; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City, New York, USA; and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, New York, USA.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022
Tiny Tyrannies, Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
2021
Esperando el 104, Galerie Xippas, Punta del Este, Uruguay
No visual distancing please…, Sicardi | Ayers | Bacino, Houston, TX, USA
La Révolte du Détail, Galerie Xippas, Paris, France
2019
INITIALISM (From Obscurantism to Enlightenment), Josée Bienvenu Gallery, New York, NY, USA
En Defense de Las Vocales, Galeria Cayon, Madrid, Spain
2018
SUPRA muro, Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
O Papel é Inocente (Paper is not guilty), Brazilian Museum of Sculpture (MUBE), São Paulo, Brazil
2017
Theory of the Inevitable Convergence, Galeria Nara Roesler, New York, NY, USA
Marco Maggi, Putin´s Pencils, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, TX. USA
Marco Maggi: Global Myopia (Language in Residence), Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Marco Maggi: The Gold and the Moor, Galeria Nara Roesler, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2016
Language Descending a Staircase, East Wing Biennial, The Courtauld Art Institute, London, UK
Piano Piano, Espacio Monitor, Caracas, Venezuela
Language in Residence, Josée Bienvenu Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2015
DEPLOYER, Galerie Xippas, Paris, France
Marco Maggi: Unfolding, Josée Bienvenu Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Sentence with Three Corners, Galeria Nara Roesler, São Paulo, Brazil
Into Whiter Space, Sayago & Pardon, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Global Myopia (Pencil & Paper), 56th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Drawing Attention, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO, USA
Marco Maggi / Piano Piano, Espacio Monitor, Caracas, Venezuela
Vuelva Usted Mañana, Galeria Cayon, Madrid, Spain
2014
West Vs. East, Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
White Specific, Sayago Pardon, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2013
Fanfold, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
2012
Figari Prize XVII, Museo Figari, Montevideo, Uruguay
Bienal de Cuenca, Ecuador
Turn Left, Galerie Xippas, Paris, France
Le Menor Idea, Galería Cayón, Madrid, Spain
No Idea, Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA), Long Beach, CA, USA
Lentissimo, The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College Museum, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA
Desinformação funcional, desenhos em portugués, Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo, Brazil
2011
Bienal de Cuenca, Ecuador
Optimismo Radical, NC-Arte, Bogotá, Colombia
X-ACTO, Xippas arte contemporáneo, Montevideo, Uruguay
From Huguenot to Microwave, Dorsky Museum, New Paltz, NY, USA
2010
Al calor del pensamiento, Fundación Banco Santander, Madrid, Spain
Infintesimal, Galería el Paseo, Punta del Este, Uruguay
Parking any time, Josée Bienvenu Gallery, New York, NY, USA
American Ream, Palitz Gallery at Lubin House, Syracuse University, NY, USA
Lentissimo, Vassar Museum, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA
2009
American Ream, Warehouse Gallery, Syracuse University, NY, USA
Slow Scandal, Point of Contact Gallery, Syracuse University, NY, USA
Cubic Drops, Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
2008
Slow Politics, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
Hipo-Real, Nara Roesler Gallery, São Paulo, Brazil
2007
By disappointment only, Josée Bienvenu Gallery, New York, NY, USA
“From a Drawing Standpoint,” Leo Fortuna Gallery, Hudson, NY, USA
Micro and Soft on Macintosh Apple (with Ken Solomon), Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Education and Research Building, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, NY, USA
2006
Off/Fora, 29th Pontevedra Biennial, Pontevedra, Spain
Profiles: The Ted Turner Catalog (from CNN to DNA), Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
2005
The Ted Turner Collection, Complete Coverage, Josée Bienvenu Gallery, New York, NY, USA
El Papel Del Papel, Centro Colombo Americano, Bogotá, Colombia
Hotbed e Altre Storie, Vitamin Arte Contemporáneo, Torino, Italy
From DNA to CNN, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
Video Box (with Ken Solomon), Centro Cultural Reina Sofía, Montevideo, Uruguay
Le deMond Diplomatique, Galerie Frank, Paris, France
Pages, iSpace, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne, Chicago, IL, USA
2004
Fifth Gwangju Biennial, South Korea
Micro & Soft on Macintosh Apple, video collaboration with Ken Solomon, Cristinerose/Josée Bienvenu Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2003
inCUBAdora, VIII Havana Biennial, Cuba
Constructing & Demolishing, Cristinerose, Josée Bienvenu Gallery, New York, NY, USA
exPECTACLE, Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Construcciones & Demoliciones, dibujos en español, Centro Cultural Reina Sofía, Montevideo, Uruguay
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Buenos Aires, Argentina
2002
25th São Paulo Biennial, São Paulo, Brazil
Hotbed Line, Gallery Sala Uno, Rome, Italy
PreColumbian & PostClintonian, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
Micro Macro, DAN Galeria, São Paulo, Brazil
Portuguese Drawings, Dan Galeria, São Paulo, Brazil
2001
Global Myopia, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO, USA
BITniks, Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
2000
The Pencil Monologues, 123 Watts Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Hardware vs. Software, Miller & Block Gallery, Boston, MA, USA
micro, macro, mArco (0002-9991: a retrospective), ARCO Project Room, Madrid, Spain
1999
From Freezer to Microwave, Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
1998
Techtonic, 123 Watts Gallery, New York, NY, USA
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SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
American Express, New York, NY, USA
Art Institute of Chicago, IL, USA
Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation (CIFO), Miami, FL, USA
Colección Jumex, Mexico City, Mexico
Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, New York, NY, USA
D. Daskalopoulos Collection, Halandri, Greece
Dacra, Miami, FL, USA
Dallas Museum of Art (DMA), Dallas, TX, USA
Daros Latinamerica Collection, Zürich, Switzerland
De Young Museum, San Francisco, CA, USA
Diane and Bruce Halle Collection, Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Dorsky Museum, New Paltz University, New York, NY, USA
El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY, USA
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, CA, USA
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., USA
Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art, IN, USA
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO, USA
Loeb and Lehman Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA
Morgan Library and Museum, New York, NY, USA
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, São Paulo, Brazil
Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City, Mexico
Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA), Los Angeles, CA, USA
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), TX, USA
Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA), Long Beach, CA, USA
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, NY, USA
Perez Art Museum, Miami, FL, USA
Progressive Corporation, Mayfield Village, OH, USA
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), CA, USA
San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, CA, USA
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, USA
Sprint Corporation, Overland Park, KS, USA
Syracuse University, NY, USA
The Drawing Center, New York, NY, USA
The Judith Rothschild Foundation, New York, NY, USA
The Rachofsky House, Dallas, TX, USA
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, USA
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, USA
