If These Walls Could Talk: Margaret Kilgallen
Like a griot recalling the tales of our ancestors, Margaret Kilgallen’s paintings share with us stories of our past. “The fact that maybe, maybe, somebody will learn from what I’m doing” is what motivated Kilgallen according to a PBS interview. Her main motifs, wood type and confident female figures, helped bring a modern take on bygone days when hobos rode the rails and artisans relied on a steady hand rather than computer.
Her Nouveau Americana art was inspired by hand painted signs she found in the Mission district of San Francisco (possibly even some works done by New Bohemia’s Steve Karbo), along with graffiti found on boxcars, typography from rare books, and folk art. Though she has passed, her influence will live on through her work and from documentaries like Beautiful Losers and the PBS series Art 21.
