Home Page: www.margaretmccarthy.com
Contact: artist@margaretmccarthy.com
Inspired and indebted to mythology, photographer Margaret McCarthy brings the eye of a poet to her photography, exploring the archetypes of myth and dream in her imagery.
“I want to reach the viewer on an intuitive level, with photographs that are visually, psychologically and spiritually compelling,” she says. “My goal: to make images that bridge past and future, inner and outer worlds, art and commerce. My philosophy: Beauty in an ugly age is revolutionary.”
Her techniques include working with B&W infrared film, using images in sequences, and collage in order to create a sense of “otherworldliness” and a transcendent vision of the human imagination. Her landscapes capture a sense of the fecund creativity of the natural world.
She has exhibited her photographs extensively, including the Fogg Art Museum, the Overseas Press Club and The Hudson River Museum, as well as numerous galleries, universities and public exhibition spaces. Her “Divine Feminine” series is now part of the Kinsey Institute Art Collection.
A few of the fine art publications where her work has appeared in include: MUSEÈ Magazine, aCURATOR, LE JOURNAL de la PHOTOGRAPHIE, Elizabeth Avedon’s Photography BlogSpot, ARTS AND LETTERS JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY CULTURE, WRITING ON WATER (MIT Press), PARABOLA Magazine, IN PRAISE OF THE MUSE: Women Artists Datebook, and COMBINATIONS: A JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY. Her work was the subject of an Adams-Russell Cable TV documentary, MARGARET McCARTHY PHOTOGRAPHS IRELAND. McCarthy’s images have garnered clients as diverse as BMG Classics (the Bertelsmann Music Group), Narada World Music, Bristol-Meyers Squibb Co., Westchester Gannett Newspapers and the New York Times Travel Section. She has also documented the peace and social justice movements of the last two decades with her camera. She is a member of ASMP, the American Society of Media Photographers and its Fine Art Brain trust, and APA, American Photographic Artists.
McCarthy has been awarded fellowship grants from The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, The Ragdale Foundation and The Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts & Sciences. The National Tourist Office of Spain, The Irish Tourist Board, The Council on International Education Exchange (CIEE) and The Aegean Institute have supported her independent photographic projects all over the world.
A graduate of New York City’s School of Visual Arts, she has taught and mentored art students through The Great Lakes Colleges New York Arts Program.
An accomplished writer as well, McCarthy’s poetry has appeared in numerous literary magazines and journals; her play about John Lennon, THE SACRIFICIAL KING, was given a New York City production by the World 3 Theatre Company.
DEIRDRE was presented at La Mama Theatre’s Experiments, NYC.
Her latest venture A VISION AND A VERSE www.avisionandaverse.com
combines her imagery and poetry as an electronic broadside.