BIO
Megan Gafford received her BFA from the University of New Orleans in 2011 and an MFA in painting and drawing from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2016. In her studio practice, she repurposes unsettling scientific tools like radiation and cybernetics as art materials, to create work that commingles eeriness and elegance. Megan has shown her work with galleries and museums across North America, including exhibitions with the Jones Institute (San Francisco, California), Galerie Robertson Arès (Montréal, Québec), SITE Gallery Houston (Houston, Texas), David B. Smith Gallery (Denver, Colorado), the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (Boulder, Colorado), and the Backyard Ballroom (New Orleans, Louisiana). She publishes the Substack Fashionably Late Takes, and her essays have been also appeared in the Tilt West Journal, Quillette, Arc Digital, and Areo Magazine. She teaches painting and drawing classes online for the University of Colorado at Denver. Megan is based in New York City.
CONTACT
megan.gafford@gmail.com
To inquire about available works for sale, please contact Galerie Robertson Arès:
+1 514 657 1221
INFO(AT)GALERIEROBERTSONARES.COM
EDUCATION
2016 MFA, University of Colorado at Boulder (Boulder, CO)
2011 BA magna cum laude with honors, Painting and Drawing, University of New Orleans (New Orleans, LA)
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2018 Hormesis, Breckenridge Creative Arts (Breckenridge, CO)
2017 Lifting the Lake, Loveland Museum/Gallery (Loveland, CO)
2017 Traces, David B Smith Gallery (Denver, CO)
2017 Hemisphere, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (Boulder, CO)
2014 Tunnel, University of Colorado at Boulder (Boulder, CO)
2012 Continuum, The Backyard Ballroom (New Orleans, LA)
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 ALTERED STATES, The Jones Institute (San Francisco, CA)
2023 Art + Science, Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities (Arvada, CO)
2022 BLOOM, Galerie Robertson Arès (Montréal, Québec)
2020 The Space(s) Between, Ent Center for the Arts (Colorado Springs, CO)
2020 Pink Progression: Collaborations, Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities (Arvada, CO)
2019 Outta Space: Sculpture Month Houston, SITE Gallery Houston (Houston, TX)
2019 The Unbearable Impermanence of Things, Vicki Myhren Gallery (Denver, CO)
2019 Now That I Have Your (un)divided Attention! Resident Artist Show, RedLine Contemporary Art Center (Denver, CO)
2018 Drive In: House of Cars, Black Cube Nomadic Museum (Denver, CO)
2018 10x - 10th Anniversary Retrospective Resident Artist Exhibition, RedLine Contemporary Art Center (Denver, CO)
2017 RedLine Artists, Red Rocks Community College (Lakewood, CO)
2017 LAND TRUST, RedLine Contemporary Art Center (Denver, CO)
2017 Transition and Change, Dairy Arts Center (Boulder, CO)
2017 Nice Work If You Can Get It: Resident Artist Exhibition Opening, RedLine Contemporary Art Center (Denver, CO)
2016 Spring MFA Thesis Exhibition, CU Art Museum (Boulder, CO)
2016 Icebreaker 7, Ice Cube Gallery (Denver, CO)
2015 Vacancy? No, Newhouse Hotel pop-up show (Denver, CO)
2015 Our Space. Our Future., University of Colorado at Boulder (Boulder, CO)
2015 Bright Young Things, Galleries of Contemporary Art (Colorado Springs, CO)
2013 Surviving the Art Show (Sugarloaf Canyon, CO)
PUBLICATIONS
2023-4 Fashionably Late Takes, by Megan Gafford, Substack (a new visual essay published every other week)
2024 “The Totalitarian Artist: Politics vs Beauty”, by Megan Gafford, Quillette
2024 “The Religious Instinct in a Godless World”, by Megan Gafford, Quillette
2024 “Where Do Works of Art Belong?”, by Megan Gafford, Quillette
2024 “The Optimistic Space Between Black and White”, by Megan Gafford, Quillette
2022 “Pushing Daisies,” by Megan Gafford, Tilt West Journal, Vol. 4: Art and Science
2019 “Smuggling Art to the Moon”, by Megan Gafford, Arc Digital
2019 “Experiments in Nurturing Classroom Curiosity”, by Megan Gafford, Quillette
2019 “What if I’m Wrong: Should Doubt Be a Sacred Value?”, by Megan Gafford, Areo Magazine
2019 “Curiosity is Sacred”, by Megan Gafford, Areo Magazine
2018 “The Right To Be Wrong”, by Megan Gafford, T\lt West Medium blog
INTERVIEWS
2024 “How the disappearance of beauty gives birth to activism”, interview by Martin Burckhardt, Ex Nihilo
2024 “In Defense of Beauty” with The Quillette Podcast, interview by Iona Italia, Quillette
2020 Interview with The Programme, interview by Joseph Coniff, The Programme
2019 “These Mutant Daisies Are The Result Of An Artistic Obsession With Atomic Age Anxieties,”
interview by Stephanie Wolf, Colorado Public Radio
2018 “Drive In: House of Cars, Interviews with Participating Artists”, interview by Black Cube Nomadic Museum
RESIDENCIES
2016-18 RedLine Contemporary Art Center (Denver, CO)
2018 Breckenridge Creative Arts, Robert Whyte House Studio (Breckenridge, CO, March 26–April 7)
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2017-24 Adjunct Instructor, University of Colorado at Denver (Denver, CO)
(Life Drawing, Drawing 1, Drawing 2, Concepts in Art, 2D Design)
2019 Adjunct Instructor, Metropolitan State University of Denver (Denver, CO)
(2D design)
2016-19 Adjunct Instructor, Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design (Denver, CO)
(Drawing 1, Topics in Color, Methods of Inquiry)
2016-19 Adjunct Instructor, University of Colorado at Boulder (Boulder, CO)
(Basic Drawing, Painting for Non-Majors, MFA Drawing Atelier, Drawing for Non-Majors)
2014-15 Graduate Instructor of Record, University of Colorado at Boulder (Boulder, CO)
(Basic Drawing, Figure Drawing)
GUEST LECTURES
2018 “The Value of Science”, 48 Hour Summit (Denver, CO, Aug 11)
2018 "Visiting Artist Lecture: Megan Gafford", Metropolitan State University Visiting Artist (Denver, CO, April 11)
2017 "Against Political Art", University of New Orleans Women's Center (New Orleans, LA, Oct 26)
2017 "Pushing Daisies and Jitterbug", College of Engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder (Boulder, CO, Sep 1)
2017 "Pushing Daisies and Jitterbug", 48 Hour Summit (Denver, CO, Aug 12)
2017 “Guest Artist Lecture: Megan Gafford”, Blowing Things Up Lab (Boulder, CO, April 10)
2016 “Visiting Artist Lecture: Megan Gafford”, Dept of Film Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder (Boulder, CO, April 4)
2015 “Dissecting Visual Language”, Dept of Theater and Dance at the University of Colorado at Boulder (Boulder, CO, Sep 10)
2014 “Visiting Artist Lecture: Megan Gafford”, Dept of Film Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder (Boulder, CO, Nov 6)