Artists

Brian Magurie

Press release

Galerie Christophe Gaillard is pleased to present A History of America, Brian Maguire’s second solo exhibition at the gallery in Paris. A committed and deeply humanist Irish artist, Maguire dedicates this exhibition to his latest series of paintings: around fifteen portraits depicting Indigenous people who have gone missing or were murdered in the United States.

Faithful to his long-standing commitment to human rights and social justice, Brian Maguire initiated the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (M&MIP) series during a residency at the Missoula Art Museum (Montana) in 2021. The artist collaborated with the grieving families of victims to create memorial portraits that capture the spirit and dignity of the missing individuals. Based on photographs chosen by the families, each portrait serves as a tribute, drawing attention to the silent crisis affecting Indigenous communities in the United States. Through his conversations with the families of the deceased, Brian Maguire learned that many of the bodies bore signs of violence, revealing that the victims had suffered assaults and murders, even when their deaths had been officially attributed to inconspicuous causes such as hypothermia. These hasty classifications, often without thorough investigations, reinforce suspicions of negligence or even complicity on the part of local authorities. In 2021, during the production of the documentary Say Her Name (dir. Rain, 2021), 86% of cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Montana remained unsolved, with no effective intervention from the FBI. This proportion of unresolved cases is the highest in the country relative to the population.

Brian Maguire’s works do not merely represent individuals; they tell stories of systemic violence, institutional neglect, and resilience. For each victim, Maguire creates two paintings: one is given to the family as an intimate remembrance, while the other is exhibited to raise awareness among a wider audience about these often-overlooked tragedies. Maguire challenges traditional power dynamics in commemorative art, giving a voice to those who have been marginalized and colonized.