Marguerite Kahrl
Marguerite Kahrl
Workspace Program Resident 2001
Marguerite Kahrl is a practiced permaculture designer and that body of knowledge and experience undoubtedly affects her work. Relationships between technology and the environment are often central themes in her work. With social and ecological orientations, her work prompts questions about humanity and power, the social and environmental impact of humans, and how we fit into a larger ecological system.
During her residency, Kahrl created large, stenciled pulp-paintings. Using a set of hand-cut mylar stencils that fit together in a puzzle like fashion, she applied pigmented pulp in succession. The results are imaginative pulp paintings depicting robotic vehicles and zeppelins that express both the pioneering advances in aviation and potential for disaster. The parable-like world’s that Kahrl creates are inspiring but also fear inducing; human triumph and ingenuity is marvelous but there are always pitfalls and potential losses along the way.
In the Studio
About the Artist
Marguerite Kahrl (b. 1966, Beverly, Massachusetts) received both a BFA in Fine Art and a BA in English Literature from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. Currently she divides her time between New York, Maine and Northern Italy, but has been primarily in Italy since 2002. She has fifteen years of design experience, focused on applying the principles and philosophy of permaculture to living environments and social art projects. Cofounder of Permaculture for Refugees (P4R) and the Italian Association Con MOI, she is experienced in strengthening social and human bonds with refugees through participatory workshops and activities. Kahrl stimulates responses to cultural changes using models, tools and relational objects.
Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at La Triennale di Milano 999: A collection of Questions on Contemporary Living (curated by Stefano Mirti, Milan 2018), Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Villa Croce (curated by Ilaria Bonacossa & Marco Scotini, Genova 2016) Parco Arte Vivente with Marjetica Potrč (curated by Marco Scotini, Turin 2016) University of Nottingham and HKE Art Museum, Ningbo, China 2014, Alberto Peola Arte Contemporanea (Turin, Italy 2104), Manifesta 9 in the Parallel Events program (Vennestraat: Hidden Places and Identities, curated by Michela Sacchetto and Francesca Berardi, Genk, Belgium, 2012), and in shows at the Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa (with Marjetica Potrč, Venice, 2010), the Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson (curated by Anne Marie Russel, Tucson, Arizona, 2010), the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (curated by Lucy Lippard, Boulder, Colorado, 2007), the Institute of Contemporary Art at the Maine College of Art (Portland, Maine, 2004), and the New House Center for Contemporary Art (curated by Olivia Giorgia, Staten Island, New York, 2001). (Source: Artist’s website)
For more information, please visit their website: https://www.kahrl.com/