Marguerite White
B Born in Boston, MA . Received an M.F.A. from the University of Texas at Austin, TX, and a B.F.A. from the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI . Lives and works in Newtonville, MA.
Recent solo exhibitions at The Parlor at 8 Orange Street , Nantucket, MA ; University Art Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, New Bedford, MA ; New Bedford State Pier, New Bedford, MA ; and The Vault Project, Newton , MA .
Participated in group exhibitions at National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, New York, NY; Trustman Gallery, Simmons College, Boston, MA; ArtSpace, Maynard, MA; Gallery on Main, Gloucester, MA; Chateau de la Napoule, La Napoule, France; and Maine Center for Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME.
Marguerite White has transformed galleries, houses, and whole warehouses with her installations. Often White’s installations are about time and memory, employing harbor imagery as a focal point for these larger concepts. Harbors are places of constant change; boats and people come in and out and detritus takes on new meaning out of context, pulled by the tides. Time seems to move in a non-linear fashion at the water’s edge, exposing the ephemeral existence of mankind beside the steady flow of nature. With drawing, vinyl cut-outs, and natural and projected light, White creates a palimpsest of nautical imagery that evolves and shifts continually. She sets us adrift in time by referencing historic imagery from the Rime of the Ancient Mariner while also calling attention to our current misgivings about harbors as sites of potential security threats. With a mix of images making up her narrative, White creates a space that is both fluid and disorienting, a place where you can become, even momentarily, lost on this continually shifting waterline.
-Kate Dempsey, Koch Curatorial Fellow
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For many years I worked in a studio that was located on a wharf in a harbor with nine-foot tides. I spent a great deal of time on the floats, observing the waterline as it rose and fell and taking note of what was revealed or hidden.
Light can alter the way we perceive our surroundings, prompting memories and provoking the imagination to see or experience a place differently. Familiar landscapes can be replaced, even temporarily, by fantastical spaces, through simple shifts of light. This forms both my process and my materials.
My installations incorporate a cast of images made from charcoal drawings and shadow projections creating non-linear narratives that explore the intersection between fact and fairytale. I consider myself a storyteller who invites the viewers to create their own paths through my iconography.
-Marguerite White
Image: Marguerite White, Waterline (developmental drawing), 2008, charcoal on vellum, overhead projections, chalk, dimensions variable, Lent by the Artist
Eye Wonder Family Program: The 2008 DeCordova Annual
Guest Artist: Marguerite White
Museum Galleries
Sunday, July 27, drop-in from 1 - 3 pm
FREE with Campus admission
