Favorite Artist Fridays: Margaret Kilgallen

image from here

One of the most exciting parts of reading creative and art-based blogs is the discovery of new-to-me artists. One of the coolest parts of the whole-world consciousness of the internet is this easy ability to learn about lesser-known and/or up-and-coming artists. I LOVE it when other people post about an artist they admire and it isn't someone I've heard of previously. I get excited and inspired.

In fact, I'm so inspired that I'm starting a new feature on Artful Artsy Amy called "Favorite Artist Fridays" where I'm going to post about some of my favorite artists. Knowing me, there will be a whole range from extremely famous to just-getting-started. My point is not to focus on re-writing a biography or critique of the artist's work, but rather to simply share with you someone whom I admire and appreciate. The explanations will be short, there will be plenty of images and lots of links for you to learn about the artist. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Margaret Kilgallen

Margaret Kilgallen's work focuses on the primitive aspects of self-taught sign-makers and commercial designers. Her work has this little ironic twist on what the primitive side of sign making looks like. I love to look at her line work and admire how crisp and clean her lines are, and then know that she was someone for whom a "perfect line" wasn't very important. She knew a great deal about signage and sign-making as she had worked with letterpress and in libraries.

previous three images from here

Margaret Kilgallen passed away in 2001 at the age of 33 due to complications from breast cancer. She has a daughter who was only a month old at the time of her passing. When I look at her work I get a little wistful because I wonder how she would have evolved; she clearly was an amazing talent.

Learn more about Margaret Kilgallen at these sources:

The first season of Art:21 features Kilgallen

Wikipedia article

Obituary

Bitch Magazine article