Margaret Curtis

Book of Hours

June 19 – August 8, 2020

Margaret Curtis  Blazing World, 2020  Oil on Panel  48h x 60w in 121.92h x 152.40w cm, painting of a glowing fire

Margaret Curtis

Blazing World, 2020

Oil on Panel

48h x 60w in
121.92h x 152.40w cm

Margaret Curtis  The Falconer, 2020  Oil on Panel  60h x 48w in 152.40h x 121.92w cm, painting of a stick figure man in a feudal landscape

Margaret Curtis

The Falconer, 2020

Oil on Panel

60h x 48w in
152.40h x 121.92w cm

Margaret Curtis  Portrait of my Anxiety, 2019  Oil on Panel  48h x 36w x 2d in 121.92h x 91.44w x 5.08d cm, image of woman in rocking chair, knitting while covered in multi-colored yarn, (inspired by Whistler's Mother)

Margaret Curtis

Portrait of my Anxiety, 2019

Oil on Panel

48h x 36w x 2d in
121.92h x 91.44w x 5.08d cm

Margaret Curtis  The Healer's Wife, 2019  Oil on Panel  48h x 60w in 121.92h x 152.40w cm, painting of a hot spring with an elderly "mansplainer" holding court over women of varying generations

Margaret Curtis

The Healer's Wife, 2019

Oil on Panel

48h x 60w in
121.92h x 152.40w cm

Margaret Curtis  Nostalgia, 2020  gouache and charcoal on paper  22h x 30w in 55.88h x 76.20w cm  Framed: 24 1/2h x 32w in 62.23h x 81.28w cm, cross section of a house on fire

Margaret Curtis

Nostalgia, 2020

gouache and charcoal on paper

22h x 30w in
55.88h x 76.20w cm

Framed: 24 1/2h x 32w in
62.23h x 81.28w cm

Margaret Curtis  The Ice Sculpture, 2019  Oil, pencil, watercolor and spray paint on panel  48h x 60w x 2d in 121.92h x 152.40w x 5.08d cm, painting of a family melting an ice sculpture the oppressive family patriarch

Margaret Curtis

The Ice Sculpture, 2019

Oil, pencil, watercolor and spray paint on panel

48h x 60w x 2d in
121.92h x 152.40w x 5.08d cm

Margaret Curtis  I Dreamed I Found A House Inside My House, Accessible Only Through the Basement, 2020  gouache, ink, and marker on paper  30h x 22w in 76.20h x 55.88w cm  Framed: 33h x 25w in 83.82h x 63.50w cm, Painting of a cross section of a house with a second house underneath

Margaret Curtis

I Dreamed I Found A House Inside My House, Accessible Only Through the Basement, 2020

gouache, ink, and marker on paper

30h x 22w in
76.20h x 55.88w cm

Framed: 33h x 25w in
83.82h x 63.50w cm

Margaret Curtis  Portrait of my Anxiety, 2019  Gouache and ink on paper  30h x 22w in 76.20h x 55.88w cm, Color drawing of a "Failed Topiary"

Margaret Curtis

Portrait of my Anxiety, 2019

Gouache and ink on paper

30h x 22w in
76.20h x 55.88w cm

Margaret Curtis  Study in Self-Loathing, 2019  Charcoal and ink on paper  22h x 30w in 55.88h x 76.20w cm  Framed: 25h x 33w in 63.50h x 83.82w cm, gestural drawing of a tall, lean figure, pacing

Margaret Curtis

Study in Self-Loathing, 2019

Charcoal and ink on paper

22h x 30w in
55.88h x 76.20w cm

Framed: 25h x 33w in
63.50h x 83.82w cm

Margaret Curtis  Woman Swarmed by Flies, 2019  Charcoal on paper  30h x 22w in 76.20h x 55.88w cm  Framed: 33h x 25w in 83.82h x 63.50w cm, 1/2 length drawing of a woman swatting flies,

Margaret Curtis

Woman Swarmed by Flies, 2019

Charcoal on paper

30h x 22w in
76.20h x 55.88w cm

Framed: 33h x 25w in
83.82h x 63.50w cm

Margaret Curtis  Woman Swarmed by Flies (Small #3), 2019  Ink on paper  15h x 11w in 38.10h x 27.94w cm  Framed: 18h x 14 1/2w in 45.72h x 36.83w cm, gestural drawing of a woman (1/2 length) swatting flies, diagonal composition, rust, white and black ink wash

Margaret Curtis

Woman Swarmed by Flies (Small #3), 2019

Ink on paper

15h x 11w in
38.10h x 27.94w cm

Framed: 18h x 14 1/2w in
45.72h x 36.83w cm

Margaret Curtis  Woman Swarmed by Flies (Small #2), 2019  ink on paper  15h x 11w in 38.10h x 27.94w cm  Framed: 18h x 14 1/2w in 45.72h x 36.83w cm, Gestural drawing of a woman swatting flies, diagonal composition, rust, white and black ink wash

Margaret Curtis

Woman Swarmed by Flies (Small #2), 2019

ink on paper

15h x 11w in
38.10h x 27.94w cm

Framed: 18h x 14 1/2w in
45.72h x 36.83w cm

Margaret Curtis  Woman Swarmed by Flies (small), 2019  Ink on paper  14h x 11w in 35.56h x 27.94w cm  Framed: 18h x 14 1/2w in 45.72h x 36.83w cm, Drawing of woman swatting flies, central composition, 3/4 length figure, rust, white and black ink wash

Margaret Curtis

Woman Swarmed by Flies (small), 2019

Ink on paper

14h x 11w in
35.56h x 27.94w cm

Framed: 18h x 14 1/2w in
45.72h x 36.83w cm

Margaret Curtis  Woman Swarmed by Ants, 2019  Charcoal on paper  30h x 22w in 76.20h x 55.88w cm  Framed: 33h x 25w in 83.82h x 63.50w cm, Gestural drawing of a woman being swarmed by ants, arms in the air, 3/4 length body, central compositions, black and grey ink wash

Margaret Curtis

Woman Swarmed by Ants, 2019

Charcoal on paper

30h x 22w in
76.20h x 55.88w cm

Framed: 33h x 25w in
83.82h x 63.50w cm

Margaret Curtis  Charm Bracelet of My Reproductive Career, 2020  Mixed Media  Dimensions Variable, sculptural charm bracelet with the stages of a woman's reproduction life span

Margaret Curtis

Charm Bracelet of My Reproductive Career, 2020

Mixed Media

Dimensions Variable

Margaret Curtis  First Pelvic, from the series "A Charm Bracelet of My Reproductive Career", 2020  Oil on paper  22h x 15w in 55.88h x 38.10w cm  Framed: 25h x 18w in 63.50h x 45.72w cm, gold toned image of young woman on OBGYN table

Margaret Curtis

First Pelvic, from the series "A Charm Bracelet of My Reproductive Career", 2020

Oil on paper

22h x 15w in
55.88h x 38.10w cm

Framed: 25h x 18w in
63.50h x 45.72w cm

Margaret Curtis  Pap, Birth Control, Ultrasound, IVF, Termination, D&C, OB, Etc., Etc., from the series "A Charm Bracelet of My Reproductive Career", 2020  Oil on paper  22h x 15w in 55.88h x 38.10w cm  Framed: 25h x 18w in 63.50h x 45.72w cm, gold toned image of a woman on PBGYN table in stirrups

Margaret Curtis

Pap, Birth Control, Ultrasound, IVF, Termination, D&C, OB, Etc., Etc., from the series "A Charm Bracelet of My Reproductive Career", 2020

Oil on paper

22h x 15w in
55.88h x 38.10w cm

Framed: 25h x 18w in
63.50h x 45.72w cm

Margaret Curtis  C-Section, from the series "A Charm Bracelet of My Reproductive Career", 2020  Oil on paper  15h x 22w in 38.10h x 55.88w cm  Framed: 18h x 25w in 45.72h x 63.50w cm, gold toned image of woman preparing for a c-section

Margaret Curtis

C-Section, from the series "A Charm Bracelet of My Reproductive Career", 2020

Oil on paper

15h x 22w in
38.10h x 55.88w cm

Framed: 18h x 25w in
45.72h x 63.50w cm

Margaret Curtis  Vaginal Delivery, from the series "A Charm Bracelet of My Reproductive Career", 2020  Oil on paper  15h x 11w in 38.10h x 27.94w cm  Framed: 18h x 14 1/2w in 45.72h x 36.83w cm, gold toned image of underside of woman on all fours, giving birth

Margaret Curtis

Vaginal Delivery, from the series "A Charm Bracelet of My Reproductive Career", 2020

Oil on paper

15h x 11w in
38.10h x 27.94w cm

Framed: 18h x 14 1/2w in
45.72h x 36.83w cm

Margaret Curtis  Lactation, from the series "A Charm Bracelet of My Reproductive Career", 2020  Oil on paper  15h x 11w in 38.10h x 27.94w cm  Framed: 18h x 14 1/2w in 45.72h x 36.83w cm, gold toned image of woman breast feeding

Margaret Curtis

Lactation, from the series "A Charm Bracelet of My Reproductive Career", 2020

Oil on paper

15h x 11w in
38.10h x 27.94w cm

Framed: 18h x 14 1/2w in
45.72h x 36.83w cm

Margaret Curtis  Vaginal Delivery 2, from the series "A Charm Bracelet of My Reproductive Career", 2020  Oil on paper  11h x 15w in 27.94h x 38.10w cm  Framed: 14 1/2h x 18w in 36.83h x 45.72w cm, gold toned image of woman on all fours giving birth

Margaret Curtis

Vaginal Delivery 2, from the series "A Charm Bracelet of My Reproductive Career", 2020

Oil on paper

11h x 15w in
27.94h x 38.10w cm

Framed: 14 1/2h x 18w in
36.83h x 45.72w cm

Margaret Curtis  Miscarriage, Infertility, Cramping, Perimenopausal Bleeding, from the series "A Charm Bracelet of My Reproductive Career", 2020  Oil on paper  15h x 11w in 38.10h x 27.94w cm  Framed: 18h x 14 1/2w in 45.72h x 36.83w cm, gold toned image of woman in pain sitting on toilet

Margaret Curtis

Miscarriage, Infertility, Cramping, Perimenopausal Bleeding, from the series "A Charm Bracelet of My Reproductive Career", 2020

Oil on paper

15h x 11w in
38.10h x 27.94w cm

Framed: 18h x 14 1/2w in
45.72h x 36.83w cm

Margaret Curtis  I Dreamed I Found A House Inside My House, Accessible Only Through the Basement (version 2), 2020  gouache, ink, and marker on paper  30h x 22w in 76.20h x 55.88w cm

Margaret Curtis

I Dreamed I Found A House Inside My House, Accessible Only Through the Basement (version 2), 2020

gouache, ink, and marker on paper

30h x 22w in
76.20h x 55.88w cm

Margaret Curtis  Smiley Face: Portrait at Six, 2020  gouache and ink on paper  22h x 30w in 55.88h x 76.20w cm, smiley self-portrait, with a confection and a pipe as eyes and a hot dog mouth

Margaret Curtis

Smiley Face: Portrait at Six, 2020

gouache and ink on paper

22h x 30w in
55.88h x 76.20w cm

Margaret Curtis  She's Going to Be a Painter, 2020  gouache and ink on paper  30h x 22w in 76.20h x 55.88w cm, drawing of a family contemplating the discovery that their daughter wants to be a painter

Margaret Curtis

She's Going to Be a Painter, 2020

gouache and ink on paper

30h x 22w in
76.20h x 55.88w cm

Press Release

Tracey Morgan Gallery is pleased to present Book of Hours, an exhibition of new work by Margaret Curtis. The exhibition features painting, works on paper, and sculpture, many created during the Covid-19 pandemic. This will be Curtis’ first exhibition with the gallery. 

The opening preview will be by appointment only Friday, June 19 from 3:00pm - 6:00pm. To register for a time slot, please email info@traceymorgangallery or call 828 505 7667. 

In Book of Hours, Curtis alludes to the highly personalized texts and illuminated manuscripts used in the Middle Ages— a time of deep social inequality, recurrent plague, and theocratic cruelty—to structure time and provide solace in uncertainty. We find ourselves in a similar moment. As advancing climate change whips up apocalyptic dread, the world, wracked by pandemic and vast structural inequalities, seems to be embracing a return to cultures of cruelty, where might makes right. Curtis considers the work in this exhibition her Book of Hours, the product of attempts to structure time through a daily studio practice, itself a meditation within compounding stresses of life during quarantine. Anxiety is a recurrent theme, as are culture-building, contagion, and climate change.  There are several “portraits of my anxiety,” from a woman being swarmed by ants or swatting flies, to a dream of a house hidden within another house, a failed topiary, and with a nod to Whistler, a painting of a knitter literally tied up in knots. 

Curtis’ work has always addressed timely issues such as feminism, American consumer culture, misogyny, and power relationships. In The Ice Sculpture, a family tends to (or is perhaps hurrying the demise of) the rapidly melting and monstrous family patriarch. Curtis says, “The image came about after pondering the similarities between narcissism and its effect on the family structure and how patriarchal power structures operate within the culture at large, especially right now with a bullying narcissist in office while the climate doomsday clock ticks away. Society is a family.” This power struggle is also apparent in The Falconer, where we see a cobbled-together and somewhat pathetic wooden and chicken wire sculpture reminiscent of classic European portraiture of royalty, looming over a forest of stumps.

As we emerge from quarantine, and begin to move freely in linear time again, we might ask ourselves whether it is a source of comfort or despair that we’ve been here before?

Margaret Curtis lives and works in Tryon, NC. She received her BA from Duke University. Her work has been exhibited in the Brooklyn Museum, NY; The Andy Warhol Museum, PA; The Wexner Center, OH; among others. She was also featured in the Bad Girls exhibition curated by Marcia Tucker at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, NY. Reviews and features of Curtis’ work have appeared in Art Forum, The New York Times, Art in America, Art News, Modern Painters, New Art Examiner, among others. Her work is in permanent collections throughout the United States. 

For images, additional information or inquiries contact, info@traceymorgangallery.com

Image caption: The Ice Sculpture, 2019, oil, pencil, water color, spray paint on panel, 48 x 60 inches