Washington, D.C. — To truly appreciate the work of Maggie Michael, one must start from the bottom. Her latest painting, “Heavy Tree, Funneling Heart” (2024), exemplifies her artistic journey. The lower third of this piece features glossy pools of paint, reminiscent of the latex paintings she first showcased two decades ago. From these serene foundations, the painting ascends in a vibrant explosion of mixed-media abstraction, symbolizing her evolving direction.
Michael’s current exhibition, “Understory,” held near Union Market, highlights the dynamic nature of her work. Vertical masterpieces like “Boulder Monument (Orange)” (2020/2022) and “Moon Fall (Mt. Hood, Mt. Sopris, Clay)” (2024) capture the volcanic emergence of ideas. These recent works, solidifying her status as D.C.’s most influential painter since Sam Gilliam, unfold as volatile yet captivating discoveries.
Michael’s work reaffirms the power of pure abstraction, serving as a lens to explore both reality and possibility. Her first major solo exhibition since 2016 comes at a time when abstract-expressionist painting is at a low point in popularity, making the show all the more compelling.
A decade ago, the art market was obsessed with abstract post-minimalist painting, spurred by a craze for “zombie formalism.” Today, however, the focus has shifted to figurative painting, with museums and galleries across the nation engaging deeply with themes of identity and representation. Some critics argue this shift has gone too far, replacing one trend with another, now dubbed “zombie figuration.”
Michael’s style evokes mid-century ideals about the value of painting. Her canvases often feature objects, like the grid-like device in “Pink for Kiefer, Homage to Midgard” (2023-2024), nodding to the hard-edge geometric tradition. In “Night Studio” (2024), a piece of snakeskin pinned to the canvas recalls Robert Rauschenberg’s sculptural combines. Michael skillfully employs a range of abstract-expressionist techniques, yet her style remains distinctly her own.
During her residency at the Joan Mitchell Center in New Orleans, Michael created 15 paintings featured in “Understory.” Although she aimed to produce large diptychs or triptychs in homage to Mitchell, she found her style more suited to densely plotted compositions. The exhibition, housed in a former Lululemon store, showcases over a dozen small paintings, some as tiny as 10 inches square — modest in size but vast in scope.
“Chagall’s Horse Lands in Utah” (2021-2022), one of the standout pieces, captures a horse charging under an ocher orb that could represent a setting sun. Framed by a stencil from a player-piano roll, this painting evokes a twilight dreamscape. Michael’s work transforms novellas into visual myths.
Her painting “American Seance for CoBrA (Malachite)” (2022) diverges with a primitive, Crayola-like brushstroke. The title and style reference the postwar European CoBrA collective, particularly Karel Appel. Within this non-American piece, Michael incorporates a malachite-like section, echoing the mineral revered by Navajo and Hopi tribes.
With nearly 50 paintings spread across 3,000 square feet, “Understory” is both expansive and immersive. While some viewers might find the exhibition overwhelming, each subset of paintings could stand alone as a complete show.
The most challenging piece, “Olympia’s Odalesque” (2017/2018), reinterprets Édouard Manet’s “Olympia” (1863). Michael’s composition reduces the reclining nude to a cramped, headless figure, with only a nipple-like protrusion suggesting feminine identity — a stark contrast to the original.
As the art world awaits the resurgence of expressionist painting, Michael’s work stands as a testament to the enduring power of abstraction. Paintings like “Antelope Falls, Nude Descending” (2024) evoke primal emotions, much like poetry or music can stir the soul. Michael’s art thrives in this visceral space, capturing the rush of blood and the essence of sensation.
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