Margaux Williamson facts for kids

Margaux Williamson (born in 1976) is a Canadian artist. She is a painter, filmmaker, and writer who lives in Toronto. Margaux's paintings are like a deep look into the world around her. She also explores how painting itself can be used in new and exciting ways. Through her art, she has created her own special way of showing ideas. She explores topics like who we are, telling stories, life, death, growing older, and feelings of tension. Even though her art sometimes deals with serious topics, it often has a hopeful message. It shows how light can be found even in dark times. Margaux's art often connects to other things, from popular culture to objects she finds in her studio. She isn't afraid to use ideas from art history, getting ideas from artists like Goya, Manet, Duchamp, Luc Tuymans, and Philip Guston.

Margaux Williamson's Life Story

Margaux Williamson was born in 1976 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. She lived there for 13 years. In 1989, her family moved to Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

After moving to Canada, Margaux went to Queen's University in 1996. She studied fine arts and graduated in 1999. In 1998, she spent a semester at the Glasgow School of Art, where she studied film. In 2000, Margaux moved to Toronto. She still lives there with her son, Billy.

Family and Collaborations

Margaux Williamson's former partner is Misha Glouberman. He studied philosophy at Harvard. Misha also worked with Margaux's friend, Sheila Heti. Misha and Sheila wrote a book together called The Chairs Are Where the People Go. This book was dedicated to Margaux.

Margaux Williamson's Art Career

Working with Other Artists

Collaborating with Sheila Heti

Around 2006, Margaux felt stuck creatively. She took a break from painting and started working with her friend, Sheila Heti. This friendship led to Margaux's film Teenager Hamlet and Sheila's novel How Should a Person Be?.

Sheila's novel tells a made-up story about her friendship with Margaux. Both women are main characters in the book. Margaux said that being a character in the novel changed how she thought about her own art. She realized she could never show her full self through art.

Since 2006, Margaux and Sheila have worked together a lot. They even started a company called "The Production Front." This helps them work with other artists under one name. For the release of Teenager Hamlet and How Should a Person Be?, they also worked with the Toronto band Tomboyfriend. The band made music for Teenager Hamlet. They all had a joint event to launch the film, the book, and the band's first album.

In 2012, Margaux and Sheila worked together again. This was for Margaux's project How to Act in the Real World. It was part of her special time as an artist-in-residence at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Working with Tomboyfriend

At the end of her time at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Margaux worked with the band Tomboyfriend again. Her last project for the residency was to make a video for their song, "End of Poverty." The video was shown along with a live performance by the band.

This performance, and Margaux's other live art pieces, pushed the usual boundaries of an art gallery. The video was made from YouTube videos. It was described as a funny and heartwarming collection of teenagers dancing alone in their rooms.

Working with Katharine Mulherin

Katharine Mulherin was the first person to show Margaux Williamson's art in the 2000s. Katharine has had a big impact on Margaux's career and success. Margaux has shown her art in many of Katharine's galleries.

When they first started, Katharine tried to keep the prices of Margaux's art affordable. But there was a growing demand for her work. Katharine Mulherin was known for helping to change an old part of the city into a lively art and culture center. She did this by opening galleries that showed many exciting artists.

Important Artworks

The Film Teenager Hamlet

One of the projects Margaux worked on at the AGO was her film Teenager Hamlet. This film retells and rethinks the famous story of Hamlet. Margaux created a fictional story using real-life interviews. She also set up situations with her friends and neighbors.

Margaux directed this film. By doing so, she stepped out of her usual painting studio. She started exploring filmmaking. Margaux said she wanted to "become a woman of action." This film was a chance for her to do that. It also let her explore what being a person of action really means.

The film was described as an "open-ended, whimsical and sometimes painfully earnest exploration of what we imagine ourselves to be." It made viewers think about what it means to be a person of action. Margaux's close friends, Sheila Heti and Sholem Krishtalka, were in the film.

The movie was produced by Julia Rosenberg of January Films. Lee Towndrow did the photography and images. Steve Kado created the music. The film was first shown at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2008. A DVD version was released in Canada in 2010. The Art Gallery of Ontario showed a different version in 2012. A final screening happened in 2013 in Brooklyn, New York.

The Book "I Could See Everything"

In 2007, after big shows in New York and Los Angeles, Margaux decided to stop showing her art in galleries. She wanted to see "where the paintings would go when I gave them all the time in the world."

In 2009, Margaux was an artist-in-residence at the Klondike Institute for Arts & Culture in the Yukon. This is where she first thought of her book, “I Could See Everything.” Instead of showing her art in a real gallery, Margaux decided to publish a book that looked like an imaginary art show catalog.

The book shows a pretend exhibit, put together by Ann Marie Pena. It's at a made-up gallery called the Road at the Top of the World Museum. This museum is supposedly in Dawson City, Yukon. The title was inspired by the “Top of the World Highway” in Alaska and the Yukon.

To focus on the paintings for the book, Margaux moved to the Yukon for a long time. The book's title I Could See Everything talks about the challenges and chances of working alone in the Yukon. Margaux said, "I was picturing working away in the studio in the Yukon, seeing the world through the Internet, newspapers, books—trying to see what the world looked like in that way."

This influence of popular culture can be seen in works like I saw the whole universe (Scarlett Johansson in Versace). The "exhibition" included 46 paintings, mostly oil on wood. They showed still lifes, heads, hands, bodies, and figures lying down. The book has five different “galleries.” Each one has an essay written by Margaux's friends, collaborators, and authors like Leanne Shapton and Chris Kraus.

It took Margaux almost six years to create this exhibit/book. When the book was finally released in 2014, Margaux had her first gallery show in almost seven years. The exhibit, also called I Could See Everything, was shown at Mulherin + Pollard in New York City.

Art Exhibitions

Margaux Williamson has shown her art in many places. Here are some of her exhibitions:

In 2021, she had a solo exhibit at White Cube gallery in London. This exhibit happened online because of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Artist Residencies

An artist residency is a special time and place where artists can focus on their work. Margaux Williamson says her work style involves switching between wanting to be alone and having long talks with amazing people. She likes being far from big cultural centers. This gives her a chance to see how different types of art connect. Margaux lives in Toronto, which is already a bit separate from the New York art scene. She often goes to the Yukon to work, taking this even further.

Klondike Institute for Arts and Culture

Margaux had her first residency at the Klondike Institute for Arts & Culture in the Yukon in 2009. Her residency lasted just over a month. During this time, she came up with the idea for her book “I Could See Everything.” The final book took several years to complete.

To work on the paintings for the book, Margaux moved to the Yukon for a longer period. After her residency, she went back to the Yukon while working on her film “Teenager Hamlet.” There, without a computer or much access to the outside world, she was able to rewrite and finish the film's script.

Art Gallery of Ontario Residency

Margaux Williamson was the second artist-in-residence at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO). This was from January to March 2012. Margaux spent eight weeks in the Anne Lind Studio. She studied ideas like avoiding things, conflict, compromise, and finding a sense of place. Margaux explored these ideas through videos and painting.

During her residency, one of her works was “How to Act in Real Life.” This was a new and ongoing performance art series. It was a collaboration with Sheila Heti. It was a public performance where Margaux taught Sheila how “to act in the real world.” Margaux and Sheila would perform this in a circle, and the audience could join in.

Another work Margaux showed was a series of “real art of tv,” called “Back to the World.” This was a screening that took place between 3 pm and midnight. Margaux again involved her audience by inviting them to bring their own sleeping bags and pillows to the showing. Other programs Margaux developed during her residency included Teenager Hamlet and a performance by Tomboyfriend.

Awards and Recognition

In April 2013, a group called Partners in Art won the MOCCA Award (Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art). This was a $25,000 prize. This award celebrates an individual's achievements in visual art. Partners in Art gave the money to the National Gallery of Canada. This money went towards Shary Boyle, who was part of the Venice Biennale in 2013. To celebrate this, Margaux, along with two other artists, Luis Jacob and Suzy Lake, were asked to make short films to honor Partners in Art.