Nancy Macko: Hive Universe, 2006/7 at the Municipal Art Gallery in Los Angeles, CA, 2006-7
As part of the national Feminist Art Project, Hive Universe was the forerunning exhibition in Los Angeles to recognize the achievements of the feminist art movement. The exhibition was accompanied by an 80-page color catalog with essays by Mary MacNaughton, Gloria Orenstein, Karin Breuer, Mary-Kay Lombino and Connie Butler, who wrote the foreword. The catalog essays focus on various bodies of my work in detail.
This exhibition was the most substantive and comprehensive examination of my work to date and included over 60 works spanning various media—traditional and digital prints, video, and mixed media works on wood panels. The exhibition also includes two video installations: Lore of the Bee Priestess (2004), post-production at Banff Centre for the Arts, Alberta, Canada, and Bee Stories (2006), created specifically for this exhibition. It was reviewed by Judith Christensen, and Peter Frank, who writes regularly for LA Weekly.
LEFT: Talisman, 2004; Amazon Rose 3, 2004; Talisman 2, 2006; archival digital prints
RIGHT: Through the Eyes of the Bee Priestess: Surveying the Night, 2005; Surveying the Land, 2005; archival digital prints
Bee Stories, 2005
Video Installation
LEFT: Dark Matter 2 , 2001, vinyl decals on paper
Dark Matter 1-3 are in the collection of Scripps/Pitzer Colleges Science Center: The Nucleus
CENTER: The First Ten Prime Numbers, Suite II, 2006, plate lithography and aquatint
RIGHT: The Honeycomb Wall, 1994
"I so enjoyed the show, the installation and the graphics that accompanied the exhibition. The support and enthusiasm for the show that I know of from colleagues, is most heartening for such a talented artist."
– Gloria Williams Sanders, Curator, Norton Simon Museum
CENTER: The First Ten Prime Numbers, Suite II, 2006, plate lithography and aquatint
RIGHT: Dark Matter 1 , 2001; Dark Matter 3, 2001; vinyl decals on paper
Dark Matter 1-3 are in the collection of Scripps/Pitzer Colleges Science Center: The Nucleus
LEFT: Bois D’Nivrana 1-9, 2004, archival digital prints
RIGHT: Shield, 2004; Amazon Rose, 2004; Dark Aging, 2004; archival digital prints
LEFT: Feminist Utopias: Womb, 2002; Beeroses, 2022; archival digital prints
RIGHT: Quintessence: New Constellations, 2000, mixed media on wood panel
FROM LEFT:
Feminist Utopias: Angelbee, 2002; Therangels, 2002; Queenangelbreast, 2002; Sacred Feminine, 2002
“...a unique opportunity to grasp the immensity and inter-connectedness of Nancy Macko's universe, while being surrounded by pure beauty.”
– Roberta Waddell, Curator of Prints, The New York Public Library
"I'm always considered and thoughtful about adding contemporary prints to the collection, but particularly so in the case of digital prints. Many artists who are experienced and successful in traditional printmaking have worked with digital processes but only a few, in my opinion, have been truly creative. Nancy's work reveals a true creative embrace of digital media—and one that is ongoing and innovative."
– Karin Breuer, Curator in Charge,
Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
