Come Into The Fortunyverse

Exciting news: I have a new artist website! You can see my drawings, performance art (yes, I love rubbing paint on naked skin, dancing at bus stops,  and lifting shamans into the air), photography, and paintings at thefortunyverse.com. Check out www.thefortunyverse.com and let me know what you think.

Use Your Illusions: My First Exhibition in Madrid

This year has been hell at times and yet there came a point where I woke up and started acting with urgency. Between the global pandemic, two members of my family in life-or-death situations (unrelated to Covid), and the intense loneliness of spending so much time alone, I thought 2020 might break me. But at the end of summer, suddenly I took action. I wanted something good to happen! I created an artist book and distributed it to numerous bookstores and art museums, where it was received well. I started drawing and painting like my life depended on it. I was invited to participate in two important exhibitions (details are in the previous two posts.) And in December 2020, I had my first dual exhibition in Madrid. 

'Use Your Illusions' examined the purpose of illusions and memories, nostalgia and desire, questioning whether these trips into imagination are positive or detrimental to one's present reality. The exhibition featured both my figurative paintings and the surreal analog collages of the Spanish artist Ella Jazz. We both lived in California at the same time, before meeting in Madrid, and this experience greatly influenced our artwork and worldview.

'Use Your Illusions,' Exhibition View, 2020

'Walking Up To Your Street', Margo Fortuny

Acrylic on canvas,  26 x 18 cm

'The Fighter', Margo Fortuny, 2020

Acrylic on canvas, 80 x 60 cm

Beto looking at 'Love Me When I'm Gone' by M. Fortuny. 

Photo: Larry Balboa

'The Trip', Margo Fortuny, 2020

Acrylic on canvas, 50 x 65 cm

'The Lover', Margo Fortuny, 2020

Acrylic on canvas, 70 x140 cm

'Use Your Illusions' Madrid 2020. Photo: Larry Balboa

Here I am outside 'Use Your Illusions', at Pavilion. 

December 2020. Photo: Diego & The Blue Sea

For more images of my artwork check out my Instagram @margofortuny .

I Danced with a Flautist: Performing in William Mackrell's Exhibition at The Ryder Gallery

Last month I had the pleasure of performing in 'Hold Up', William Mackrell's opening piece of his exhibition 'Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night' at The Ryder Gallery. The live performance (with all safety measures in effect) featured the British artist, Alicia Cano, Manuel León, and I acting as a band. I danced around with maracas and gripped the microphone like a lead singer, trying not to channel Axl Rose more than necessary. We interpreted various songs Mackrell had recorded from phone hotlines as a "monument to waiting." How relevant for 2020!

The exhibition at The Ryder, runs until January 29th, 2021. Go see it if you're in Madrid, then wander around Lavapies and go out to lunch. Tia Carlota and Los Chuchis are fun spots to have a bite to eat. 

William Mackrell, Hold Up, 2020
Live performance at The RYDER, Madrid. 19th November 2020
15 min. Air Europa 3.57′ / NHS England Switchboard 3.28′ / Direct Auto 2.10′ / TeamKnowHow 3.02′
Performers: William Mackrell, Alicia Cano, Margo Fortuny and Manuel León.

William Mackrell, Hold Up, 2016-2020 (detail)
Record player, Hi-Fi System (110 x 60 cm), steel hole, speakers & cable
6 Vinyl discs Sound loop, variable Display cabinet (120 x 90 cm)

William Mackrell, Do not go gentle into that good night.

Installation view at The RYDER, Madrid, November 2020

Phone footage of the performance, 2020

Photographs courtesy of The Ryder, Madrid.