November 23–December 31, 2021
Steve Turner is pleased to present Disappearing Act, a solo exhibition by London-based Ellie MacGarry that features recent paintings which depict human bodies in bodies of water. The subjects are submerged to varying degrees with the water functioning as a transparent veil that both conceals and reveals the body. MacGarry uses layers of transparent paint to alter perception and to suggest transformation.
Ellie MacGarry (born 1991, Cambridge) earned an MA at the Slade School of Fine Art, London (2018) after earning a BFA at the University of Leeds (2014). She had a solo exhibition at Daniel Benjamin Gallery, London (2019) and has had works in numerous group exhibitions in Europe and the United Kingdom since 2013. Disappearing Act is MacGarry’s second solo exhibition with Steve Turner.
Ellie MacGarry creates paintings which depict cropped details of the body–garments, pockets and openings. They consider physical intimacy with one’s own body, with the hand recurring as a comforting, protective or expressive tool.
1991, Cambridge, England
Lives and works in London
Education
2018
MFA, Slade School of Fine Art, London
2014
BFA, University of Leeds, England
2013
École Supérieure d’Arts et de Design Marseille-Méditerranée
2010
Cambridge Regional College
Solo Exhibitions
2021
Disappearing Act, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Your Hand Is A Warm Stone, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
2019
Come Undone, Daniel Benjamin Gallery, London
Group Exhibitions
2020
Untitled (But Loved), Bosse and Baum, London
2019
I know that you know, Wells Project Space, London
Sensitive Matter, Bridget Riley Studios, London
Testing, Unit 3 Projects, London
2018
In Hiding, Academy of Visual Arts, HKBU, Hong Kong
Oh she does like to be beside the seeside, Spanish City, Whitley Bay, England
Graduate Degree Show, Slade School of Fine Art, London
2017
Imagen Vibratoria, bajo el paraguas de su reproduccion, Museo Nahim Isaias, Guayaquil, Ecuador
Slade Interim Show, Slade School of Fine Art, London
on plon air, 12ø collective, London
Steal the show, Bentinck Street, Glasgow
2016
Fresh ‘n’ Frozen, 12ø collective, London Copeland Collective, Copeland Park, London
Prod + Push, Sunny Bank Mills, Leeds
HOT DESK, London
Are you ready?, Caravan, Manchester
S/S 18, Unna Way, Huddersfield, England
Visual Candy, Assembly House, Leeds
Part of the Furniture, Tall Boys, Leeds
2015
Cascading Relevant Information, CBS at Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool
Sluice, Bargehouse Gallery, OXO Tower Wharf, London
Bankley Open, Bankley Gallery, Manchester
Manchester Contemporary, Old Granada Studios, Manchester
Plus One, Assembly House Project Space, Leeds
Tracing Paper, Paper Gallery, Manchester
Edible Painting (an event as part of Painting in Time), The Tetley, Leeds Contemporary British Abstraction, SE9 Container Gallery, London Overseasoned part deux, Salt + Powell @ Artemis House, York
2014
Leeds Revisited, Big Gallery, Dortmund, Germany Surfacing, Leeds
Graduate Residency Exhibition, Patrick Studios, East Street Arts, Leeds Pareidolla, Pluspace, Coventry, England
_Matters, Leeds University Degree Show 2014, University of Leeds OVERTIME: Art and the Office, curated by SEIZE, Wellington Street, Leeds
2013
Evident Resident II, Galerie MAD, Marseille
Residencies and Awards
2018
Artist in Residence, Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong
Baptist University Melville Nettleship Prize, Slade School of Fine Art, London
Slade Summer School Artist in Residence, London
Felix Slade Scholarship, Slade School of Fine Art, London
2015
Tracing Paper Mentorship, Paper Gallery, Manchester
2014
Berkofsky Arts Award, University of Leeds
Ben Read Graduate Acquisition Fund, University of Leeds, Leeds
City Art Gallery East Street Arts Graduate Residency, Leeds
Bibliography
2019
Benson, Louise. “Ellie MacGarry Rewrites the Body With Tan Lines and a Fulle Bush,” Elephant Magazine, April 1
2017
Mead, Robert. Terraform, Issue 2
2014
Churchill, Jessie. “Painting as object,” Looking At Painting, Volume 1
