Spiral Galaxy

Heather McGill, American, born 1954

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2014

Fiberglass, urethane foam, lacquer, and acrylic

Overall: 31 3/4 × 48 in. (80.6 × 121.9 cm)

Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through the Mrs. Harvey P. Hood W'18 Fund

2015.27

Geography

Place Made: United States, North America

Period

21st century

Object Name

Sculpture

Research Area

Sculpture

Not on view

Label

Inspired by the aesthetics of the automotive industry, Heather McGill drafts her work by hand, with a computer, as well as with laser technology, creating fastidiously composed and precise sculptural works that appear mass produced.

McGill created Spiral Galaxy for her exhibition as an artist-in-residence at Dartmouth in winter 2015. She fills in each of the circumscribed ovals, and the lines composing them, with vibrating pink, red, and neon hues. As she explains, "Spiral Galaxy derives its shape from historical schemata mapping the night sky. We live in a spiral galaxy called the Milky Way, characterized by clusters of stars, gas, and dust that radiate outward from the center. . . . My desire was to orchestrate a changing perceptual experience relative to time and space."

From the 2021 exhibition Drawing Lines, curated by Jessica Hong, Associate Curator of Global Contemporary Art


Exhibition History

Artist-in-Residence: Heather McGill, Dear Things, Sweet Things, Jaffe-Friede Gallery, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 13 to March 10, 2015.

Drawing Lines, Dorothy and Churchill P. Lathrop Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, Hanoever, New Hampshire, July 10, 2021–September 4, 2022.

Publication History

Heather McGill, Dear Things, Sweet Things, Artist-in-Residence, Winter 2015, Hanover, New Hampshire: Trustees of Dartmouth College, 2015, no page numbers, illustrated.

Provenance

Miller Yezerski Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts; sold to present collection, 2015.

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