Michael F Gallagher is an emerging artist living in Mexico City, Mexico. Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, he earned a BFA in Art and Art History from The Ohio State University and went on to earn an MA in Interdisciplinary Arts Education at Columbia College Chicago where he lived for 34 years before relocating to Mexico City.
Gallagher has worked in installation, sculpture, and performance, most recently exploring kinetic sculpture created from textiles. Regardless of medium, he has concerned himself with activating space through ethereal imagery that belies the confrontational content of the politics of identity.
Gallagher has participated in many group exhibitions over the last several years. His work has been shown in Nashville, TN, Anderson, IN as well as the Illinois locations of Elgin, St Charles, Batavia, and Monmouth. In Chicago, Gallagher has participated in shows at various galleries including Woman Made Gallery, The Chicago Art Department, and the Bridgeport Art Center. He currently participates in an online residency and is part of a Collectivo in Mexico City with The Bureau of Queer Art, where he has shown in three separate shows, including the upcoming "Escandalo" show for PRIDE 2026.
Statement
I adore the order of columns and rows. I search for this balance in my work, poised between formal artistic considerations and themes that are both personal and universal. The intentional use of light and shadow is central to this search and can be seen in the abstract shapes I create from treated textiles. Work made of antique dessert plates or monochrome plaster forms highlight a similar interplay. These forms are used to scrutinize topics of LGBTQ equality, race and gender. The art activism of ACT UP in the 1980s and 90s had a profound impact on me and I often participated in their public actions. It instilled in me a thirst to have my voice heard and prepared me to explore the tension between beauty and discomfort.
My approach balances the appeal of the artistic form and the clash of the underlying themes, which are decidedly more provocative. For me, these two ideas are not in opposition, but rather work in concert to create their own unique experience. They provide a point of entry to an idea that may otherwise be avoided yet still hold space for an authentic artistic encounter. These amalgams are also a way for me to personally process the complexities of these subjects and provide an unending avenue of artistic exploration.