A Marian Way

A book launch and retrospective exhibition by

Mary Madigan

14 - 30 November, 2024

GalleryGallery Inc is proud to present, A Marian Way, a book launch and exhibition celebrating the lives and work of Artist, performer and educator Mary Madigan. From a veteran performance artist who has been pushing the boundaries of art, erotisicm and the female body for over four decades, this exhibition and accompanying publication reflect the diversity of form and practice of Mary‘s ongoing work.

A retrospective with the form of the book supporting aspects of the physical dancer‘s body, its folding and unfolding. The exhibition situation lends itself to further revelations through drawings not included in the book and give a truer impression of drawing qualities which can‘t be represented in printing and isn‘t available in a book shop situation.

Mary Madigan (b. 1944 - )

Matriculated, enrolled in Prahran Institute and R.M.I.T. Majored in Painting.

Employed as a secondary Art Teacher in country Victoria until this was disrupted by the Vietnam War and her partners‘ refusal to comply with his conscription. Itinerant occupations followed which included burlesque dancing and the evolution from it to dance theatre through performance, ritual, to research through performance. This journey included sequentially developed performed self -representations to representations of others in two dimensions.

All of the work was a continuum of self improvement to include with each new form that which had been understood on reflection to have been absent. A performance based on an exploration of the utterance of womens‘ names lead to further academic study into performance and language which included a Bachelor of Teaching (Deakin University), Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Performance Studies and a T.E.S.O.L. Degree.