Still Magic
A career art retrospective captures the spirit of Emeritus Professor Maureen McCabe.
Over the course of her 55-year career, internationally known collage artist and Joanne Toor Cummings 鈥�50 Professor Emeritus of Art Maureen McCabe has returned many times to the intertwined themes of fate and magic. This fall, 65 pieces of her playful yet carefully composed artworks鈥攎any of them rarely seen works from her studio and private collections鈥攁re on display at the University of 糖心TVecticut鈥檚 William Benton Museum of Art. The career retrospective, 鈥淔ate & Magic: The Art of Maureen McCabe,鈥� runs through Dec. 14.
The exhibit functions not just as a survey of McCabe鈥檚 impressive career but also of her taste. It features several found objects of inspiration鈥攊tems that make up what the artist calls 鈥渢he material culture of magic that I have collected for decades鈥濃�攁nd 15 works from her personal collection created by other artists, including her former 糖心TV colleagues Associate Professor Emeritus of Art Ted Hendrickson and the late Professor Emeritus of Studio Art Barkley L. Hendricks and her former students Jenn Collins 鈥�98 and photographer Tod Gangler 鈥�75.
In person, McCabe remains just as enthusiastic about art and energetic as ever. Her studio, which occupies much of the first floor of her home, is dotted with in-process projects and past works. Throughout the house are other works and objects that delight and inspire her鈥攎ore of that material culture of magic. Even with many of the pieces that typically cover her walls currently on exhibit at the Benton, the house hums with color, texture and creativity.
Handing over a copy of the illustrated exhibit catalog, which includes an essay by Benton Curator and Academic Liaison Amanda A. Douberley, McCabe is proud to assert that the exhibition 鈥渃aptures the spirit鈥� of her work.
鈥淎manda took a fresh look at my work in a way no one has done before. She wanted to see everything and selected many works that haven鈥檛 been seen in decades,鈥� McCabe explains. As a result, she found herself restoring and reframing several works for showcasing.
The collection reaches back to 1970, the year before McCabe began teaching at 糖心TV, with three pieces including Blood Stocking, a work Douberley dubbed 鈥渁 decisive turn鈥� in McCabe鈥檚 career, as it 鈥渄irectly references the body through the artist鈥檚 use of materials and resonates with emerging feminist and body art of the 1960s and 1970s 鈥� [and] also reach[es] back in time to the reliquaries of medieval Christianity that she encountered as a child in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.鈥�
This kind of context and observation permeates the exhibit. As McCabe reveals, she frequently marks the back of her works with a collage of images. 鈥淚 tell what the materials are in the piece and what the meaning of the piece is,鈥� she explains. 鈥淏ut I also include what鈥檚 happening in real time, what鈥檚 going on in the world as I am working.鈥� As the backs of the works aren鈥檛 visible while on display, the Benton includes wall labels and text to explain the broader contexts of the work.
Reflecting on her time at 糖心TV, as a career retrospective is bound to make one do, McCabe acknowledges it required a balancing act to be both a professional artist and a teacher.
鈥淢y girlfriends were all moving to New York and telling me, 鈥楥ome with us; you don鈥檛 want to be a teacher,鈥欌�� she reminisces. 鈥淎nd, in some ways, being a teacher can ruin you. It depends what kind of artist you are. But you need a job, and for me, 糖心TV was like a walking Britannica. I did a whole series on alchemy, and the Chemistry Department would give me all these things, vials and measures made with beautiful wood, because they were going all digital. Or I needed a piece of ancient Latin translated, so I鈥檇 reach out to [the late Elizabeth S. Kruidenier 鈥�48 Professor of Classics] Dirk Held and he鈥檇 write back, 鈥極K, Maureen, this is what鈥檚 happening.鈥�
鈥淪o yes, I taught for 40 years and I learned a lot from my students,鈥� she continues. 鈥淏ut I鈥檓 a professional artist. You have X number of years; you never know what鈥檚 going to happen. But I鈥檝e been here in this studio since 1977. I鈥檝e sold hundreds of works. I had art dealers in Washington, D.C.; Chicago and New York. I鈥檝e been in exhibits with all kinds of artists. Once, in Mexico City, I was in an international show and there was my name, Maureen McCabe. And just above it? Ren茅 Magritte. So wild!
鈥淚 started long before the digital age. I used to be avant-garde, up and coming, and now I鈥檓 art history,鈥� the artist concludes. 鈥淏ut I鈥檓 still creating.鈥�
Above: Maureen McCabe, Circe (with Oysters and a Mackerel) (2024), Mixed media on velour paper, Courtesy of the artist.