Gallery With A Cause • Located in the New Mexico Cancer Center • Benefitting the NMCC Foundation
Please call gallery director Regina Held to arrange a private gallery tour, make a purchase, or ask any questions.
Biography
Madelin Coit is an American multi-disciplinary artist whose professional career spans over five decades. Born in Connecticut, she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Connecticut in 1968 and attended the CalArts Design School in 1971. Now based in Tesuque, near Santa Fe, New Mexico, her work frequently addresses concepts of the "interface"—the liminal edges separating one form from another—and "pentimento," the physical layering and ghosting of materials where past iterations seep into the present.
Central to her body of work is the Firstlight series, an evocative exploration of the threshold moments where form first emerges from shadow. Summarizing the cyclic modulation of her home environment, this series captures the pre-sunrise grays and delicate transitions of early dawn, utilizing subtle gradations of tone and texture to trace the passive anticipation of major action.
Coit’s work has been exhibited at major institutions nationwide, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Hammer Museum, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, and SITE Santa Fe. Her artwork is held in prominent permanent collections, including the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, the State of New Mexico, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and has been featured in publications such as THE Magazine, ARTnews, and Artweek.
Artist Statement
My practice is an ongoing investigation into the boundaries of language, space, and material. Moving fluidly between minimalism, environmental art, and the legacy of the Light and Space movement, I explore the liminal edges where one form dissolves and another begins, constructing environments that challenge how we perceive space, memory, and time. As an artist, I find what is hidden - then I choose how best to reveal what I have found. For nearly fifty years, I have pursued my fascination with peering around and through barriers, with what lies beyond surfaces, with presenting things from multiple perspectives, with the interplay of light and shadow, and with exploring the myriad possibilities of perception.
I pursue these ideas through numerous media. My studio practice began with trompe l'oeil graphite drawings, and has grown to include sprayed oil paintings (some with 200 layers of paint); mirrored Lucite boxes that house perforated drawings (supplying unexpected portraits of the voyeur); interactive pop-up paper constructions; readings and performances; time-lapse and real time video; text-based works made from neon or steel; deconstructed books; symbolic furniture; polycarbonate sculptures; and installations made of reclaimed newsprint, to name a few.
Though widely diverse in execution, each of the works speak to revelation—celebrating an unveiling, a hidden discovery, or an “aha moment.”