Main Drag, mixed-media installation de Margaret KILGALLEN, créée au Philadelphia's Institute of Contemporary Art, 2001, mixed-media installation, dimensions variables adaptées pour le Whitney biennial 2002 7 mars - 26 mai 2002, New York Courtesy the artist's estate and Deitch projects, New York. [image extraite de http://www.lost.art.br/margaret.htm]

Extrait du catalogue en ligne

"When Margaret KILGALLEN passed away from cancer in the summer of 2001, she left behinf a large body of work that embodies her fascination with American VERNACULAR CULTURE. Part of close circle of San Francisco artists including Chris JOHANSON and KILGALLEN's husband, Barry MCGEE, she created work that is rooted in mural painting, graffiti and tramp (clochard) art, and underground comics. The world she evokes is rife (peuplé) with desolate streets lined with broken-down liquor stores, bars, and cheap motels... The comiclike appearance of her art and its automnal color palette of burnt siennas, dark-olive greens, and muted oranges imbue (imprègne) the sad-sack atmosphere with a nostalgic charm.
Main Drag, an installation she first exhibited at Philadelphia's Institute of Contemporary Art, has been adapted for the Biennial. The installation displays a semi-deserted street scene with leafless trees, a bar, a jewelry shop, and a factory with two smokestacks set in the distance. Between the two long, painted walls stands a peculiar tower, composed of fragments of abandoned shacks (cabanes).
Main Drag reveals Kilgallen's fascination with VERNACULAR LETTERING; the work is replete (rempli) with dilapidated store signs and streetscapes marked with ambiguous words like 'Steady' and 'Kook' (personne bizarre). KILGALLEN worked as a book conservator at the San Francisco Public Library for eight years, a job that enabled her to immerse herself in the history of TYPOGRAPHY.
Despite its rather morose tone, KILGALLEN's installation reflects a resourceful spirit. Much of her work was made with discarded materials, including scraps of wood and house paint retrieved (récupérée) from local recycling centers. Using no preparatory sketches or guidelines, KILGALLEN typically created her installations on the spur (sous l'impulsion) of the moment, instilling the final artwork with an improvised, do-it yourself feel."