Cheryl Donegan

Cheryl Donegan's work integrates the time-based, gestural forms of performance and video with forms such as painting, drawing and installation. Direct, irreverent, and infused with an ironic eroticism, Donegan's work puts a subversive spin on issues relating to sex, gender, art-making and art history. Using her body as metaphor in her earlier works, Donegan's performative actions before the camera often resulted in or related to process paintings and drawings. More recently, the paintings often lead the video work as Donegan derives abstraction from debased images of consumer objects and spaces. As critic Nick Stillman writes in Art Forum: "Donegan's recent work remains acidic, but it has turned abstract”. Donegan is known for her video works from the early ‘90s, including Kiss My Royal Irish Ass (K.M.R.I.A.) and Head (both 1993), which targeted the clichés of the female body in art and other issues of art politics.

Donegan received her MFA from Hunter College, NY and BFA in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design. Her recent solo exhibition, titled GRLZ + VEILS and organized by Aspen Art Museum travelled to Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH) in 2018 - 2019. Donegan's work has been exhibited internationally including Kunsthalle Zürich; New Museum; the 1995 Whitney Biennial, The Museum of Modern Art; the Tang Museum of Art; New York Film and Video Festival; 1993 Venice Biennale; Biennale d’Art Contemporain de Lyon, France; Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston, TX; New Museum, New York, NY; Galerie VidalCuglietta, Brussels, BE; and White Flag Library, St. Louis, MO. She has been a frequent seminar leader and guest critic at Yale University, was a faculty member at Skowheagan School of Drawing and Painting (Summer 2011) and a visiting artist/lecturer at numerous art programs in the United States. Currently she is preparing for an exhibition at Skaftfell Center for Visual Art, East Iceland titled Donegan + Dieter in summer of 2019 and working on a new publication with Three Star Books. 

Cheryl Donegan; E-Harm, 2010; acrylic spray paint on canvas 36 in. x 24 in.
Cheryl Donegan; Untitled (Garlands), 2011; acrylic spray paint on canvas. 36 in. x 24 in.
Cheryl Donegan; Yr Geisha, 2010; acrylic spray paint on canvas 36 in. x 24 in.
Cheryl Donegan; Untitled (1st Grid), 2011; spray paint on canvas. 36 in. x 24 in.
Cheryl Donegan; LAMP, 2019; hand dyed digitally printed cotton fabric. 44 in. x 25 1/2 in.
Cheryl Donegan; Untitled (Sculpture), 2010; spray paint on canvas. 36 in. x 24 in.
Cheryl Donegan; Untitled (Dark Corner Grid), 2010; acrylic spray paint on canvas. 36 in. x 24 in.
Cheryl Donegan; Cuts, 2012; acrylic spray paint on canvas. 36 in. x 24 in.
Cheryl Donegan; The Bust, 2010; acrylic spray paint on canvas. 36 in. x 24 in.
Cheryl Donegan; Untitled (1st Pink Gingham), 2010; acrylic spray paint on canvas. 36 in. x 24 in.
Cheryl Donegan; Partial Sayings, 2011; acrylic spray paint on canvas. 36 in. x 24 in.
Cheryl Donegan; DIMS, 2019; hand dyed digitally printed cotton fabric. 36 in. x 24 in.
Cheryl Donegan; untitled_acid yellow_soft caramel, 2016; acrylic on jute; 40 x 30 in.
Cheryl Donegan; untitled_bubblegum pink_bright blue, 2016; acrylic on jute; 40 x 30 in.
Cheryl Donegan; untitled_jade green_neon red, 2016; acrylic on jute; 40 x 30 in.
Cheryl Donegan; untitled_track_resist_polke_puzzle, 2017; hand dyed digitally printed; 40 x 30 in.
 Cheryl Donegan; untitled_track_resist_double_different reds, 2017; 74 x 40 in.
 Cheryl Donegan; untitled_track_resist_green_shallow_shadows, 2017; 58 x 40 in.
Cheryl Donegan; Crack 12, 2010; spray paint, plexi, fabric, sheet metal on MDF; 24 x 18 in
Cheryl Donegan; Glamorous Glue, 2010; fabric, spray paint, plexi, cardboard on MDF; 24 x 18 in
Cheryl Donegan; Crack 4, 2010; metallic tape, sheet metal, spray paint on MDF; 24 x 18 in
Cheryl Donegan; Crack 15, 2010; spray paint, glitter, plexi on MDF; 24 x 18 in
Cheryl Donegan; Untitled (cut, cracked, and painted black), 2014; leather, house paint on board
Cheryl Donegan, Untitled (silver distressed), 2012, leather, spray paint, acrylic on MDF, 14 x 11 in
Cheryl Donegan; Untitled (cut, cracked, and painted white), 2014; leather, house paint on board
Cheryl Donegan; Untitled (teal and deep khaki on red), 2014; acrylic on jute; 40 x 30 in.
Cheryl Donegan; Untitled (light lemon yellow and pale blue on green), 2014; acrylic on jute
Cheryl Donegan; Untitled (red and blue), 2012; acrylic on jute; 36 x 24 in.
Cheryl Donegan; Untitled (olive and yellow green) 2013; acrylic on jute; 36 x 24 in.
Cheryl Donegan; Untitled (bright blue gingham), 2012; fabric on MDF board; 26 x 20 in.
Cheryl Donegan; Untitled (two rose gingham), 2012; fabric on MDF board; 26 x 20 in.