Thursday, October 4, 2012

Art I Heart: Margaret Kilgallen

Dazzling, isn't it?
About the Artist:
Margaret Kilgallen was a San Francisco Bay Area artist and a central figure in the Mission School art movement. She was inspired by typography, folk arts, and hand-painted signs. Early experiences as a librarian and bookbinder contributed to her encyclopedic knowledge of signs, drawn from American folk tradition, printmaking, and letterpress. Kilgallen had a love of “things that show the evidence of the human hand.” She created huge murals, but never used a projector because she loved the imperfections created by her own hands. 

As October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, I found it fitting to feature the work of Kilgallen. Margaret died at age 33; she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer but decided to forgo chemotherapy so that she might carry her pregnancy to term. Within weeks of giving birth to her daughter, she passed away. While her story is tragic, she's a selfless and truly talented artist that shouldn't be forgotten. To learn more about Margaret Kilgallen, you might consider this PBS special and the documentary, Beautiful Losers. To view more of her work, take a look at these images on FLICKR.

Have a Happy Thursday!
Toodles,
ANF
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1 comment:

  1. thank you for the introduction to this artist- what a tragic story, but she was so brave to consider her child over her own life. I am just loving your blog!!!

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