Tara McPherson (born April 7, 1976, in San Francisco, California) is an American artist based in New York. McPherson creates paintings, murals, poster art, and

designer toy A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

s, within the New

Contemporary Art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...

movement.

Biography

Tara McPherson studied art at

Santa Monica Community College Santa Monica College (SMC) is a Public university, public, community college in Santa Monica, California. Founded as a Junior college#United States, junior college in 1929, SMC enrolls over 30,000 students in more than 90 fields of study. Althoug ...

and earned her BFA from

Art Center An art centre or arts center is distinct from an art gallery or art museum. An arts centre is a functional community centre with a specific remit to encourage arts practice and to provide facilities such as theatre space, gallery space, venues for ...

in Pasadena, CA in August 2001 with an Illustration major and a

Fine Art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

minor. McPherson's artwork has been featured in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'', '' Vanity Fair'', ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'', ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'', ''

Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937, followed by the United Kingdom in 1941. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on wo ...

'', ''

Juxtapoz ''Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine'' (pronounced ''JUX-tah-pose'') is a magazine created in 1994 by a group of artists and art collectors including Robert Williams, Fausto Vitello, C.R. Stecyk III (a.k.a. Craig Stecyk), Greg Escalante, and Eric ...

'', ''Hi-Fructose'', and the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

''. In 2007, she won an Esky Award from ''Esquire'' for Best Concert Poster.

Solo exhibitions

In 2006, McPherson's works were exhibited in a solo show at BLK/MARKT in Los Angeles, followed in 2008 by ''Lost Constellations'', her first solo show at the

Jonathan LeVine Gallery Jonathan LeVine is an American art dealer, instrumental in the proliferation of lowbrow and street art on the East Coast of the United States. About LeVine grew up in Trenton, New Jersey. As a teenager, he encountered punk rock music and the p ...

in New York. In 2015,

Dorothy Circus Gallery Dorothy Circus Gallery is a contemporary art gallery exhibiting artworks belonging to lowbrow, graffiti and street art. Overview Dorothy Circus Gallery was founded in 2007 by publisher Maddalena Di Giacomo and her daughter, Alexandra Mazzant ...

hosted McPherson's first solo exhibition in Rome. In 2010 ''Bunny in the Moon'' opened at Jonathan Levine Gallery followed by Wandering Luminations in 2013.

Art Toys

Tara McPherson is one of the leading female artists in the

Designer Toy A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

movement. She has collaborated with brands like

kidrobot Kidrobot is a producer and retailer of designer toys, vinyl art toys and collectibles founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Paul Budnitz. The company was one of the earliest creators of designer art toys in America. The company was acquired in November ...

, ToyQube, and most recently Tomenosuke and Circus Posterus. In collaboration with Kidrobot Black, she won ''Toy of the Year'' in 2012 for her Lilitu figure based on the Sumerian Myth

Lilith Lilith ( ; he, Wiktionary:לילית, לִילִית, Līlīṯ) is a female figure in Mesopotamian Mythology, Mesopotamian and Jewish mythology, Judaic mythology, alternatively the first wife of Adam and supposedly the primordial she-demon. ...

. In 2018 she won anothe
Designer Toy Award
in the category ''Best Licensed Toy'' for her

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...

Art Figure.

Monographs

Published by

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...

, Tara McPherson has released a series of Art Books. *"''Lonely Heart: The Art of Tara McPherson''” * "''Lost Constellations: The Art of Tara McPherson''” *"''Bunny in the Moon: The Art of Tara McPherson"'' *''"Wandering Luminations: The Art of Tara McPherson"''

References

External links

* Living people 1976 births American artists {{US-artist-stub