Magalie Guérin

Magalie Guérin’s work begins with seeking out a shape. She observes her surroundings by making photographs and sketches: the forms in the architecture, the outlines of furniture, and the contours of limbs. The painting begins as a sculptural translation of an investigation. A template of the shape is transferred onto the surface of a canvas, embedded with thick layers of gesso so that its raised edges remain fixed, unmovable. Then follows an approach that is mostly intuitive, as she layers with oil paint. The process of construction/deconstruction begins as she aspires to uncover complex relationships, contained within the multi-layered painted surfaces, that also reveal the history of their making. 

Currently, Magalie Guérin is making multiple, simultaneous paintings. They are mostly in pairs. The mark-making is copied and then repeated across each canvas. When the surfaces have achieved a rich level of history and she is satisfied with their visual resolution, she separates the paintings and continues building them individually, exploring the concept of resolution. How and when is the work finished? Curious about the multitude of possibilities that a shared origin offers, similar to how siblings, twins, ultimately can end up wholly different from one another. 

Born in Montreal, Magalie Guérin lives and works in Marfa, Texas. In 2011, she received her BFA in Painting and Drawing from the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. Recent solo exhibitions were presented at Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York; Amanda Wilkinson Gallery, London (UK); Chapter NY, New York; James Harris, Seattle; Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago; Schwarz Contemporary, Berlin; and Anat Egbi, Los Angeles. Her work is in the collection of DePaul Art Museum, Hydro-Québec and Caisse de dépôt et de placement du Québec. She is the author of NOTES ON, a compilation of studio writings published by The Green Lantern Press in 2016. She was recently awarded a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant (2018), a Chinati Foundation residency (2018), and the Stephen Pace Residency Award for a Mid-Career Painter at The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown (2019).

Recent Exhibitions

Group exhibition - A Rythm not a Plot
From January 13 to February 19, 2022

Magalie Guérin - A Bow Down From November 28 to January 16, 2021

Magalie Guérin - A Bow Down
From November 28 to January 16, 2021

Magalie Guérin From May 25 to June 29, 2019

Magalie Guérin
From May 25 to June 29, 2019

+ CV

EDUCATION

2011 - MFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (USA)

RESIDENCIES

2021

  • Clay Break Residency, UARK Ceramics, Fayetteville, AR, USA

2019

  • Stephen Pace Residency Award for a Mid-Career Painter at the Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown, MA (USA)

2018

  • Chinati Foundation Residency, Marfa, TX (USA)

2013

  • Ox-Bow Residency, Saugatuck, MI (USA)

2008

  • Millay Colony, Austerlitz, NY (USA)

2005

  • Jentel Artist Residency Program, Banner, WY (USA)

COLLECTIONS

DePaul Art Museum

Collection Hydro-Québec

Collection de la caisse de dépôt et de placement du Québec

GRANTS AND DISTINCTION

2020

  • Anonymous was a Woman Emergency Relief Fund

2019

  • Stephen Pace Residency Award for a Mid-Career Painter at the Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown, MA

2018

  • Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant
  • Lighton International Artists Exchange Program grant

2015

  • New American Painting, Midwest Competition, Issue #119

2013

  • Memorial Scholarship for Painters and Metternich Scholarship

2012

  • Grant/Purchase Award, Working Artist Org

2006

  • KHN Center for the Arts, Nebraska City, Nebraska

+ Solo Exhibitions

2023

  • some mondegreens, Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York, NY, USA

2022

  • Hard Green, Corbett vs Dempsey, Chicago, IL, USA

2020

  • A Bow Down, Galerie Nicolas Robert, Montreal (QC)
  • The Big Dig, Corbett vs Dempsey, Chicago (USA)
  • Magalie Guérin, Amanda Wilkinson, London, England

2019

  • Magalie Guérin: SOLUTE, Chapter NY, New York City, NY (USA)

2018

  • The Marfa Paintings, James Harris Gallery, Seattles, WA (USA)
  • Morgenspaziergang, Schwarz Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
  • Magalie Guérin: bunker, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago, IL (USA)

2017

  • No Boby Knows, Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles, CA (USA)

2016

  • Magalie Guérin, Soon.tw, Montréal (QC)
  • Copy Drawings, Sector 2337, Chicago, IL (USA)

2015

  • Magalie Guérin, Lyles & King, New York, NY (USA)
  • Magalie Guérin, with Ross Normandin, Roots & Culture, Chicaco, IL (USA)

2014

  • Magalie Guérin, Projects at The Suburban, Oak Park, IL (USA)
  • Re, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicaco, IL (USA)

2013

  • Magalie Guérin: Paintings 2009-2013, Knox College Gallery, Galesburg, IL (USA)

2012

  • The Warmest Guest, Autumn Space, Chicaco, IL (USA)

2010

  • The Cracks of The Game, Autumn Space, Chicaco, IL (USA)

2006

  • Unrequited, MillerBlock, Boston, MA (USA)

2004

  • The Devil in Me, GV/AS gallery, Brooklyn, NY (USA)

+ Selected Group Exhibitions

2023

  • 50 PAINTINGS, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, IL, USA

2020

  • Cosmic Meteorites & Other Burners, Corbett vs Dempsey, Chicago, IL, USA

2019

  • Body/Object, George Adams Gallery, New York City, NY (USA)
  • Small painting, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicaco, IL (USA)
  • With a Capital P: Selections by Six Painters, Elmhurst Museum, Elmhurst, IL (USA)
  • Magalie Guérin, with Philippe Caron Lefebvre, Galerie Nicolas Robert, Montréal (QC)

2018

  • Local Comfort, LVL3, Chicaco, IL (USA)
  • Got a light? ", organised by Assaf Evron, The Suburban, Milwaukee, WI (USA)

2017

  • American Genre, curator : Michelle Grabner, Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art, Portland, ME (USA)
  • Stranger Things, DePaul Art Museum, Chicaco, IL (USA)

2016

  • Known Unknowns: Painting in Chicago, Cleve Carney Art Gallery, Glen Ellyn, IL (USA)
  • New American Paintings: Midwest Edition, Elmhurst Museum, Elmhurst, IL (USA)
  • Cabinet in the Mirror, Nicelle Beauchene, New York, NY (USA)
  • Imagine, Brand New Gallery, Milan, Italy

2015

  • The Suburban, 16 years, Mount Airy Contemporary, Philadelphie, PA (USA)
  • Other Planes of There, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicaco, IL (USA)
  • Abstraction: A Visual Language, Rhona Hoffman gallery, Chicaco, Il (USA)
  • All In, Riverside Arts Center, Riverside, IL (USA)

2014

  • Making Space, curator : Susanne Doremus, Zolla/Lieberman gallery, Chicaco, IL (USA)

2013

  • Slow Read, curator : Justin Witte, Glass Curtain Gallery, Chicaco, IL (USA)
  • Surface, curator : Scott Wolniak, Judith Racht Gallery, Harbert, MI (USA)
  • Reading Room", organised by Sean Ward, Julius Caesar, Chicaco, IL (USA)

2012

  • The Question of Their Content, Zolla/Lieberman gallery, Chicaco, IL (USA)

2011

  • Cloud Gate, Monya Rowe gallery, New York, NY (USA)
  • Reduction or Something Less, LVL3, Chicaco, IL (USA)
  • Irritable Abstraction, commissaire : Susanne Doremus, Julius Caesar, Chicaco, IL (USA)

2010

  • The Great Poor Farm Experiment II, Poor Farm, Manawa, WI (USA)

2009

  • Fuckheads, commissaire : Angela Dufresne, SCA Contemporary Art, Albuquerque, NM (USA)

2007

  • Just a Ghostly Paper Sigh, 31Grand, New York, NY (USA)
  • No New Tale to Tell, 31Grand, New York, NY (USA)
  • Nature/Nurture, MillerBlock, Boston, MA (USA)
  • Other worlds, 31Grand, Brooklyn, NY (USA)

2006

  • Love Will Tear Us Apart, The National Arts Club, New York, NY (USA)
  • Unless, MillerBlock, Boston, MA (USA)
  • Deluge, Bucheon Gallery, San Francisco, CA (USA)

2005

  • Something is Somewhere, Monya Rowe gallery, New York, NY (USA)
  • I've Met Someone Else, Monya Rowe gallery, New York, NY (USA)

+ Art fairs

2022

  • NADA New York, with Galerie Nicolas Robert, New York (NY)

2020

  • Art Toronto, with Galerie Nicolas Robert, Toronto (ON)
  • Papier 20, with Galerie Nicolas Robert, Montréal (QC)

2019

  • Art Toronto, with Galerie Nicolas Robert, Toronto (ON)
  • Papier 19, with Galerie Nicolas Robert, Montréal (QC)
  • Frieze London, with Amanda Wilkinson Gallery, London, England

2018

  • Art Basel, with Corbett vs Dempsey, Miami Beach, FL, USA

+ Press and publications

2020

  • CHENG, Claudia (2020). « London Exhibitions You Don’t Want to Miss », Art She Says, [Online] published on July 19, https://bit.ly/3nfhmrB
  • WEBER, Tomas (2020). « Magalie Guérin. Amanda Wilkinson Gallery », Artforum, [Online], published on July 23. https://bit.ly/3lpc9Nr

2019

  • LALOU ROUSSSEAU, Charlotte (2019). « Magalie Guérin, Philippe Caron Lefebvre, Galerie Nicolas Robert », esse art + opinions, [Online], published on June 26, https://bit.ly/2LQWYOX
  • MILLER, Chris (2019). « An Experiment in Curation: A Review of “With a Capital P“ », Newcity Art, [Online], published on June 10, https://bit.ly/2GAVJza
  • MAJUMDAR, Sangram (2019). « Interview: Magalie Guérin’s multiple endings », twocoatsofpaint.com, [Online], published on March 8, https://bit.ly/2STBku4

2018

  • DELAND, Lauren (2018). « Review: Magalie Guérin at Corbett vs Dempsey », Art in America, [Online], published in April 2018, https://bit.ly/2vvjLst
  • ZARLEY, B. David, (2018). « About the Shape of It: Magalie Guérin at Corbett vs Dempsey », New American, Paintings, [Online], published on February 26, 2018, https://bit.ly/2GtrwCd

2016

  • RUBENSTEIN, Bradley (2016). « Cut, Copy, and Print: Magalie Guérin on Replicating Her Own Paintings », Artslant, Rackroom, [Online], published in September 2016, https://bit.ly/2y8c4qy
  • MILLER, Chris (2016). « In Painting, New Directions are Hard to Find », Newcity Art, [Online], published in July 2016, https://bit.ly/2K5a085
  • BUTLER, Sharon (2016). « Painting Picks: Lower East Side », Two Coats of Paint, [Online], published on April 16, https://bit.ly/1XHcN6R
  • ROONEY, Kathleen (2016). « Review: 'Notes On' by Magalie Guerin », Chicago Tribune, [Online], published on April 7, https://bit.ly/2ZdeZtK
  • LOGAN, Liz (2016), « 10 Chicago Artists You Should Know », Make It Better, [Online], published on February 22, https://bit.ly/32QcrE5

2015

  • INDRISEK, Scott (2015). « 5 Must-See Gallery Shows in New York », BLOUIN Art Info, published on September 14.
  • Artspace Editors (2015). « Collector Carole Server’s Picks from EXPO Chicago 2015 », Artspace, published on September 8
  • RUBENSTEIN, Bradley, « This Is What Tomorrow Looks Like: On Painting », Artslant, [Online], published on September 3, https://bit.ly/2K0PHc5

2014

  • GIRGENTI, MariA (2014). « Review: Magalie Guérin/Corbett vs Dempsey », Newcity Art, [Online], published on September 28, https://bit.ly/30UW3QW
  • MORRIS, Matt (2014). « Critics’ Picks (Chicago) », Artforum.com, [Online], published in Septembre 2014.
  • DLUZEN, Robin (2014). « Recommended Shows: Beyond Chicago EXPO », ArtFCity, [Online], published on September 17, https://bit.ly/XjNayV
  • FOUMBERG, Jason (2014). « The Ultimate Survival Guide to September Gallery Openings », Chicago Mag, [Online], published on September 3, https://bit.ly/2XZIwKW
  • « 7 Abstract Painting Shows with Brains and Beauty », ADAA tumblr, [Online], published in September 2014
  • Magalie Guérin « Seven Artists of the Week », Chicago Art Review, [Online], published on January 9, https://bit.ly/2MfjG2P

2013

  • FOUMBERG, Jason (2013). « Top 5 Art Exhibitions, Newcity Art », published on December 19.
  • DLUZEN, Robin (2013). « Slow Read”, Visual Art Source », published on October 2013
  • MARGOZIAN, Emily (2013). « Leisurely Novelty », FNews Magazine, [Online], published on Octobre 20, https://bit.ly/32LXfYR
  • TRENT, Savannah (2013). « The Allure of Abstract Art », The Knox Student, [Online], published on September 26, https://bit.ly/2Y7g9uo
  • PICARD, Caroline (2013). « From Day to Day: An Interview with Magalie Guerin », Bad At Sports, published in September 2013

2012

  • www.make-space.net (2012). « Other Investigations: Magalie Guérin », [Online], published in April 2012
  • ARTSlant (2012). « On our Chicago Watchlist », [Online], published in March 2012, https://bit.ly/2YdRYpq

2011

  • Newcity Art (2011). « Museum of Contemporary Art, LVL3 gallery », Monica Westin, published in November 2011
  • VIERA, Lauren (2011). « Autumnal art », Chicago Tribune, [[Online], published on September 15, https://bit.ly/2OfVC29
  • (fundamental) PAINTING (2011). « Interview », published in August 2011
  • Beautiful Decay.com, published in June 2011
  • VÉLEZ, Pedro (2011). « Chicago 2010 », Artnet.com, [Online], published on January 2011, https://bit.ly/2GtPH3k