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Marco Maggi
Tiny Tyrannies, 6 September - 15 October 2022
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Marco Maggi : Tiny Tyrannies

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Overview
Marco Maggi, "Tiny Tyrannies (blue)," 2022, cut paper on blue Dibond, 48 x 36 inches, 121.9 x 91.4 cm
Marco Maggi, "Tiny Tyrannies (blue)," 2022, cut paper on blue Dibond, 48 x 36 inches, 121.9 x 91.4 cm
For more than two decades, the Uruguayan artist Marco Maggi — known for his virtuoso drawings and conceptually driven installations — has considered, then elegantly answered, the question of how to take drawing from two into three dimensions.  Using his abstracted lexicon, he has drawn in relief on aluminum foil, carved everyday objects like rulers or apples, and inscribed plexiglass to create drawings that are only visible when they cast a shadow.  And since he represented Uruguay in their pavilion at the 2015 Venice Biennale, his vocabulary has included the tiniest hand-cut paper shapes that cluster, fold, curl, stack and bend — encrusting "drawings” on paper as well as unexpected surfaces… even the very walls of the gallery.
 
Maggi's shapes suggest meaning — alphabets of unknown languages, computer circuitry, Google Earth imaging of vaguely familiar cities — but no matter how much you puzzle over them, the forms are ultimately inexplicable.

Viewers are compelled to move close, slow down, stand on tiptoe, look obliquely, even crawl on the ground in an effort to make sense of these encryptions.  And in so doing, they physically act out Maggi’s metaphor for understanding: one must alter one's perspective — see things from another point-of-view — in order to find deeper meaning in this world.

While Maggi’s visual vocabulary evades certitude, the titles of his exhibitions and individual works — referring to technology, geopolitics and cultural history — offer clues to his concerns and are as witty and loaded with meaning as his drawings are confounding.  He is a philosopher-poet of non-representational drawing.  The title of this, his ninth solo exhibition with Hosfelt Gallery, alludes to the minuscule things — be they viruses or fractions of percentage points in interest rates — that have tremendous impact on our lives.

Born in Montevideo in 1957, Marco Maggi divides his time between New York and Uruguay.  His work has been collected by numerous museums, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Art Institute of Chicago; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, São Paulo; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; as well as by major private collections including the Cisneros Collection, New York and the Daros Foundation, Zurich.  He has been represented by Hosfelt Gallery since 1999.

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Works
  • Large black piece of paper with millions of extremely small pieces of white paper in various shaped and sizes, spread about the page. there's alarge concentration of white paper in the top right corner.
    Marco Maggi
    Bad Behavior of the Very Small, 2021
    cut paper on black museum board on Dibond
    40 x 60 in
    101.6 x 152.4 cm
    Inquire
    %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EMarco%20Maggi%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EBad%20Behavior%20of%20the%20Very%20Small%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2021%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Ecut%20paper%20on%20black%20museum%20board%20on%20Dibond%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E40%20x%2060%20in%3Cbr/%3E%0A101.6%20x%20152.4%20cm%3C/div%3E
  • Top angled view of a metal-handled paint roller on a black background. Variety of white, blue, red, and yellow 1D cutouts attached to black roller head.
    Marco Maggi
    Rolling Quotes, 2022
    cut paper on paper on roller
    6 x 4 in
    15.2 x 10.2 cm
  • A clear convex disk with etchings set on a dark grey background.
    Marco Maggi
    Crystalline (left), 2022
    engraving on magnifying glass
    20 x 20 x 4 in
    50.8 x 50.8 x 10.2 cm
  • A clear disk with etchings on a dark grey background.
    Marco Maggi
    Crystalline (right), 2022
    engraving on magnifying glass
    20 x 20 x 4 in
    50.8 x 50.8 x 10.2 cm
    Inquire
    %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EMarco%20Maggi%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3ECrystalline%20%28right%29%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2022%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Eengraving%20on%20magnifying%20glass%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E20%20x%2020%20x%204%20in%3Cbr/%3E%0A50.8%20x%2050.8%20x%2010.2%20cm%3C/div%3E
  • Front view of a 5x8 grid of rectangular foil slides, each with unique raised linear designs, in white mounts.
    Marco Maggi
    Blind Slides, 2022
    drypoint on foil in forty 35mm slide mounts
    24 x 18 in
    61 x 45.7 cm
    Inquire
    %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EMarco%20Maggi%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EBlind%20Slides%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2022%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Edrypoint%20on%20foil%20in%20forty%2035mm%20slide%20mounts%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E24%20x%2018%20in%3Cbr/%3E%0A61%20x%2045.7%20cm%3C/div%3E
  • Front view of a 16x22 grid of gold rectangles on a white background.
    Marco Maggi
    Gold Slides, 2022
    cuts and folds on paper in 35mm slide mounts
    48 x 36 in
    121.9 x 91.4 cm
  • 16x22 grid of silver rectangles on a white background in a white frame.
    Marco Maggi
    SILVER SLIDES, 2022
    cuts and folds on paper in 35mm slide mounts
    48 x 36 in
    121.9 x 91.4 cm
    Inquire
    %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EMarco%20Maggi%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3ESILVER%20SLIDES%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2022%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Ecuts%20and%20folds%20on%20paper%20in%2035mm%20slide%20mounts%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E48%20x%2036%20in%3Cbr/%3E%0A121.9%20x%2091.4%20cm%3C/div%3E
  • Millions of small white cut-outs on a black background.
    Marco Maggi
    TINY TYRANNIES (black), 2022
    cut paper on black museum board on Dibond
    24 x 32 in
    61 x 81.3 cm
    Inquire
    %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EMarco%20Maggi%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3ETINY%20TYRANNIES%20%28black%29%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2022%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Ecut%20paper%20on%20black%20museum%20board%20on%20Dibond%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E24%20x%2032%20in%3Cbr/%3E%0A61%20x%2081.3%20cm%3C/div%3E
  • Millions of minuscule white dots make a vertical rectangle on a bright blue background.
    Marco Maggi
    Tiny Tyrannies (blue), 2022
    cut paper on blue Dibond
    48 x 36 in
    121.9 x 91.4 cm
  • Hundreds of minuscule 1D white cutouts on a white background with scattered 3D white flaps.
    Marco Maggi
    Tiny Tyrannies (grey), 2022
    cut paper on paper on Dibond
    36 x 24 in
    91.4 x 61 cm
  • A red vertical rectangle with white, black, and red 1D and 3D cutouts and flaps in a white frame.
    Marco Maggi
    TINY TYRANNIES (red), 2022
    cut paper on paper on Dibond
    36 x 24 in
    91.4 x 61 cm
    Inquire
    %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EMarco%20Maggi%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3ETINY%20TYRANNIES%20%28red%29%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2022%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Ecut%20paper%20on%20paper%20on%20Dibond%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E36%20x%2024%20in%3Cbr/%3E%0A91.4%20x%2061%20cm%3C/div%3E
  • Millions of white, blue, red, and yellow 1D and 3D cutouts on a white background.
    Marco Maggi
    Tiny Tyrannies (grey), 2022
    cut paper on paper on Dibond
    24 x 18 in
    61 x 45.7 cm
  • Millions of black, white, yellow, and red 1D and 3D cutouts on a white background.
    Marco Maggi
    Tiny Tyrannies (white), 2022
    cut paper on paper on Dibond
    24 x 18 in
    61 x 45.7 cm
  • Front view of a 5x8 grid of rectangular foil slides, each with unique raised linear designs, in white mounts.
    Marco Maggi
    Blind Slides, 2022
    drypoint on foil in forty 35mm slide mounts
    24 x 18 in
    61 x 45.7 cm
    Inquire
    %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EMarco%20Maggi%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EBlind%20Slides%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2022%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Edrypoint%20on%20foil%20in%20forty%2035mm%20slide%20mounts%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E24%20x%2018%20in%3Cbr/%3E%0A61%20x%2045.7%20cm%3C/div%3E
  • Miniature light grey icons scattered across a white background.
    Marco Maggi
    Abstract & Title, 2021
    pencil on clay
    20 x 16 in
    50.8 x 40.6 cm
    Inquire
    %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EMarco%20Maggi%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EAbstract%20%26%20Title%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2021%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Epencil%20on%20clay%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E20%20x%2016%20in%3Cbr/%3E%0A50.8%20x%2040.6%20cm%3C/div%3E
  • Marco Maggi Flat Pencil, 2019 graphite on graphite 24 x 18 in 61 x 45.7 cm
    Marco Maggi
    Flat Pencil, 2019
    graphite on graphite
    24 x 18 in
    61 x 45.7 cm
    Inquire
    %3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EMarco%20Maggi%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EFlat%20Pencil%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22comma%22%3E%2C%20%3C/span%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_year%22%3E2019%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3Egraphite%20on%20graphite%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E24%20x%2018%20in%3Cbr/%3E%0A61%20x%2045.7%20cm%3C/div%3E
Installation Views
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Press
  • Marco Maggi, "Tiny Tyrannies (black)," 2022, cut paper on black museum board on Dibond, 24 x 32 inches

    Marco Maggi - Art at the Edge of Perception

    Renny Pritikin, Square Cylinder, September 14, 2022

Related artist

  • The image presents an intricate monochrome artwork, possibly a painting or print, dominated by a black background overlaid with countless white squares and rectangles of varying sizes. The distribution of the white shapes is denser at the top and graduall

    Marco Maggi

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