Keegan McHargue (born 1982 in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

) is an American artist known for his dream-like drawings and paintings. McHargue is sometimes described as either an

outsider art Outsider art is art made by self-taught or supposedly naïve artists with typically little or no contact with the conventions of the art worlds. In many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Often, outsider art illustrates e ...

ist or faux-outsider artist. He lives and works in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

About

McHargue was seen as a successful emerging artist by age 21 and never attended art school. He previously lived in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, and briefly lived in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, Texas before moving to New York City. In 2007, he created a body of artwork "The Yellow Spectrum" specifically for an audience of babies, and a few years later with the "Preteen" work his audience was teenagers and preteens. In a 2010 interview, McHargue made comparisons between the fields of art and

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

. McHargue said about his process, "I tend to shy away from expressionistic concerns that compromise control. In a sense, everything in my art becomes about particular processes. That’s how process became the most important part of my painting. I always say that I’m not a particularly good painter but I’m a very strategic painter". McHargue's work is in various public art collections including

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

(MoMA),

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco. The permanent collection of the ...

(FAMSF), among others_.

Exhibitions

This is a list of select exhibitions by McHargue. * 2003 – ''"The Wolfman Cometh"'', solo exhibition, Rivington Arms, New York City, New York * 2006 – ''"The Control Group"'', Metro Pictures Gallery, Chelsea, New York City, New York * 2005 – ''"Drawing Circles"'', solo exhibition, Hiromi Yoshii Gallery, Tokyo, Japan *2004 – "''Large Dudes''", exhibition with Matt Leines, The Wrong Gallery, New York City, New York * 2004 – ''"Deliver Us From Evil: Dinos & Jake Chapman, R. Crumb, Honore Daumir, Dr. Lakra, Keegan McHargue"'',

Matthew Marks Gallery Matthew Marks is an art gallery located in the New York City neighborhood of Chelsea and the Los Angeles neighborhood of West Hollywood. Founded in 1991 by Matthew Marks, it specializes in modern and contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, ...

, New York City, New York * 2004 – ''"Feel the Wind"'', Jack Hanley Gallery, San Francisco, California *2004 – "''Incantations''", group exhibition,

Metro Pictures Gallery Metro Pictures was a New York City art gallery founded in 1980 by Janelle Reiring (previously of Leo Castelli Gallery), and Helene Winer (previously of Artists Space). It was located in SoHo until 1995 when it moved to Chelsea. The gallery close ...

, Chelsea, New York City, New York * 2013 – ''"Prick of Conscience"'', solo exhibition, Fredericks & Freiser Gallery, New York City, New York

Publications

References

External links

Keegan Mchargue Interview
with

Beautiful/Decay ''Beautiful/Decay'' is an art magazine created by Amir H. Fallah and Jay Littleton. First published as a black-and-white zine at a Kinko's FedEx Office Print & Ship Services Inc. (doing business as FedEx Office; formerly FedEx Kinko's, and ea ...

magazine in 2010
Interview with Keegan McHargue
by

The Believer Believer(s) or The Believer(s) may refer to: Religion * Believer, a person who holds a particular belief ** Believer, a person who holds a particular religious belief *** Believers, Christians with a religious faith in the divine Christ *** Beli ...

magazine in 2010 1982 births Living people Artists from Portland, Oregon Outsider artists Artists from New York City {{US-artist-stub