Maggie Michael (born 1974) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

painter. Born in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, Michael has spent much of her career in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

A 1996 graduate of the

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

, from which she received a BFA, with honors, she received her MA from

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...

in 2000 and her MFA from

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

in 2002. She has received numerous awards during her career, including a grant from the

Joan Mitchell Foundation Joan Mitchell (February 12, 1925 – October 30, 1992) was an American artist who worked primarily in painting and printmaking, and also used pastel and made other works on paper. She was an active participant in the New York School of artis ...

in 2004, the same year in which she was given a Young Artist Grant by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities; she has also worked with the

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was designed ...

. Michael is married to the sculptor Dan Steinhilber. She has served on the faculty of the

Corcoran College of Art and Design The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design (known as the Corcoran School or CSAD) is the professional art school of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C.Peggy McGloneUniversity names first director of Corcoran School of the Arts an ...

Work

Stylistically, Michael's work is derived in part from Pop Art and in part from

Abstract Expressionism Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

. Her 2003 painting ''Genie'' is currently in the collection of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, while her 2005 painting ''Anchor'', in latex, ink, oil enamel, and spray paint on canvas, is owned by the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds one of the world's lar ...

. The same museum received her 2004 painting ''Crest'', formerly in the collection of the

Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art is a former art museum in Washington, D.C., that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Founded in 1869 by philanthropist William Wilson Corco ...

, when that institution's collection was disbursed after its closing. Another painting from the same museum, ''Untitled (Helmet)'' of 2006, was transferred to the

National Museum of Women in the Arts The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), located in Washington, D.C., is "the first museum in the world solely dedicated" to championing women through the arts. NMWA was incorporated in 1981 by Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. Since openi ...

. Her work has been also shown at the

American University Museum The American University Museum is located within the Katzen Arts Center at the American University in Washington, DC. History and description The American University Museum consists of a three-story, museum and sculpture garden. The region’s ...

. "Michael paints in series, such as the recent “Perfect X,” that are characterized more by visual motifs than different techniques. Nearly all of her pictures contrast hard-edged shapes, sometimes stenciled, with looser gestures, and employ a variety of pigments, including ink, acrylic, latex and spray paint. These liquids and more flow through the American University Museum's “A Phrase Hung in Midair as If Frozen,” which surveys Michael's output since 2002, the year she earned an MFA at AU." Michael seeks to emphasize paint’s fluidity, by apply paint pigment so thickly that it becomes sculptural. This is can be seen through one of her earliest pieces, the “Clones”. She uses single-color pools of latex paint were poured onto panels, then shaped into near-identical blobs. The Washington Post calls her work, "playful yet spartan, with an austerity not evident in the other pictures, even quiet recent ones". Her work is included in the collection of the

Awards

* Artist at Work Program, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, 2006-2007 * Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant Artist Fellowship, D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, An agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, 2004 * Young Artist Grant, D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, 2004

Exhibitions

Source: 2006 * Ambrosino Gallery, Conversations (curated by Sharon Louden), Miami, FL * Street Scenes: Art not Ads, mobile truck project in Washington, DC, curated by Welmoed Lanstra and Nora Helpren * Corcoran Gallery of Art, Redefined: Modern and Contemporary Art from the Collection, Washington, DC * Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, New Acquisitions, Washington, DC * Wichita Falls Art Museum, Take Me to the River, Wichita Falls, TX * G Fine Art, Open End, Washington, DC (solo) 2005 * Lump Gallery/Projects, Worse for the Better, Raleigh, NC (solo) * Rule, (T)rain, Denver, CO (solo) * Branch Gallery, Two for the See-Saw (curated by Bill Thelen), Carrboro, NC * G Fine Art, Blasts (curated by Paul Brewer), Washington, DC * Arlington Arts Center, State of The Art (curated by Stephen Phillips), Arlington, VA * Gallery Four, I Want to See, Baltimore, MD * OmniArt, Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami, FL 2004 * G Fine Art, Run, Washington, DC (solo) * Scope Art Fair, New York, NY (solo) * Kimberly Venardos, Selections, New York, NY * Julie Baker Fine Art, Spring, Grass Valley, CA * G Fine Art, Washington, DC 2003 * Corcoran Gallery of Art, Census (curated by Paul Brewer), Washington, DC * G Fine Art, Drawing, Washington, DC * Kimberly Venardos, Maggie Michael, Dan Steinhilber, New York, NY 2002 * Decatur Blue, DB Sides, Washington, DC * G Fine Art, Nine Painters, Washington, DC * G Fine Art, Summer 2002, Washington, DC * Julie Baker Fine Art, Baker©'s Dozen, Grass Valley, CA * G Fine Art, Clones, Washington, DC (solo) 2001 * Anton Gallery, Washington, DC * Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA * I Street Studios Gallery, Washington, DC 2000 * Studio 7/Warehouse, Art Romp, Washington, DC

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michael, Maggie 1974 births Living people 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century American women painters University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni San Francisco State University alumni American University alumni Corcoran School of the Arts and Design faculty Artists from Milwaukee Painters from Wisconsin Painters from Washington, D.C.