Medrie MacPhee's 'Scavenge' exhibition at Tibor de Nagy Gallery explores clothing as architectural form

Medrie MacPhee's exhibition 'Scavenge' at Tibor de Nagy Gallery from June 15 to July 28, 2017 marked her debut with the gallery and its inaugural show at a new Lower East Side location shared with Betty Cuningham. The artist discussed her evolution from architectural landscapes to abstract paintings incorporating fabric pieces. MacPhee revealed a parallel practice creating 'comfort clothing' under the label 'Relax,' which began with hat sculptures in 2011. Her paintings now integrate disassembled garments like jeans and sleeves to construct architectural forms, blending body and structure. She described this approach as 'an existential process' rooted in collage, influenced by her English mother's hat-making aspirations. The artist acknowledged Russian avant-garde movements like Vkhutemas and artists including Malevich, Lissitzky, Popova, Rodchenko, Goncharova, Larionov, and Stepanova as significant influences. MacPhee's work engages with identity politics and feminism, though her clothing incorporation wasn't overtly feminist but felt transgressive. She uses acrylic transfer techniques inspired by Brazilian artist Beatriz Milhazes, creating dimensional disruptions in her surfaces. The largest painting in the show, 'Out of Pocket,' features an unpainted strip of blue jean with two pockets. MacPhee's artistic trajectory has consistently addressed themes of survival since her response to the September 11, 2001 attacks five years later.