Margaret Garrett's 'Moving Images'

“Moving Images: The 19 & Other Works” is an exhibition of videos, paintings, and works on paper by interdisciplinary artist Margaret Garrett. The show, on view at Shelter Island Historical Society, opens with a reception on Saturday, August 7, from 5 to 8 p.m. and remains on view through September 8. It will feature work created in the last year and “The 19,” a video and suite of painted collages inspired by 19 poses chosen from Martha Graham dances in honor of the centennial of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.

“The 19” was first presented at Planthouse Gallery in New York City in September 2020.

“As a longtime admirer of Martha Graham, I was immediately captivated by the idea of working with these poses to make work in celebration of the 19th Amendment,” Garrett said. “In creating these pieces, I felt like I was working with a very potent alphabet, an intimate language about dance, women and power.”

Born in North Carolina and raised in Pennsylvania, Garrett grew up training to be a dancer. At the age of 16, she left home to join the Pennsylvania Ballet and later danced with the Cleveland Ballet as a soloist. In her early 20s, she discovered painting, finding something spiritually akin to dance in the movement of line and color, and from that time on, her focus has been on visual art.

Garrett’s work has been exhibited in galleries and museums across the United States, including Planthouse, the Parrish Art Museum, Danese/Corey, and the Flag Art Foundation. Her work has also been included in the Armory Show, Art on Paper, Art Miami, Dallas Art Fair, and the Baltimore Museum Contemporary Print Fair. Her film “Elegy” was an official selection for the London International Motion Picture Awards in 2020. She has been awarded several residencies and her work is held in numerous private and corporate collections in the United States and Europe. She lives and works on Shelter Island.

The Shelter Island Historical Society is at 16 South Ferry Road and the campus was recently renovated by Shelter Island resident and architect William Pederson. This exhibition will be on view in the historic Havens House.