Macon Reed

Macon Reed is an artist working in sculpture, installation, video, painting, and social practice. Their work has shown at venues such as the National Art School (Sydney), San Francisco Museum of Craft and Design, Transmediale Vorspiel (Berlin), La Patinoire Royale (Brussels), the University of New South Wales Gallery (Sydney), Five Years Gallery (London), The Kitchen (New York), Columbia University (New York), Brown University (Providence), Royal Academy of Arts Schools (London), PULSE NYC Special Projects, and the Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts (San Francisco).

Reed completed their MFA at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2013 and BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2007. They studied Physical Theater at the Dah International Theatre School (Belgrade), Radio Documentary at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies (Maine), and Socially-Engaged Arts at The Kitchen (NYC). They attended residencies and fellowship programs at the Royal Academy of Arts (London), Eyebeam Center for Art+Technology, Amherst College, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. They received First Prize at the 2023 Louisiana Contemporary Exhibition at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. 

Press includes: The New York Times, Hyperallergic, Artnet News, ArteTV France, ArteTV Germany, CityTV: Santa Monica, The Guardian, Whitewall, Vice, Huffington Post, Confederezione Nazionale, Art F City, The Washington Post, The Village Voice, New City Art, The Observer, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and Time Out Sydney.

Artist Statement

My work draws from queer, punk and DIY communities where we experiment with how we can—and cannot—consciously shape the world in which we live. The brightly-colored, large-scale installations I create draw from a lineage of artists and thinkers who understand the role art can play in reshaping our world through radical imagination. The temporary worlds I create highlight undervalued histories and pressing social issues by bringing together studio processes and social-engagement in equal measure. These projects often require participation, structured through queer and intersectional feminist models of engagement.

My sculptures often represent everyday items and spaces, altered with a material sensibility that simultaneously signifies an other-worldliness. Joint compound, plaster, rubber, paper pulp and repurposed lumber are all readily available commonplace materials I use. I like my sculptures to walk a line between feeling casually accessible and highly intentional, creating immersive spaces that are both specific and expansive. It is important that the presence of my hand remains visible in the making of my sculpture, as many things are designed to erase the bodily intimacy between consumer and maker.