Faculty Biography
Vitals:
Name: Charles McGill
Title: Art Gallery Manager
Department: Art
Building: Student Center
Room: TBA
Phone: TBA
Email: McGillc@mville.edu
Degrees:
M.F.A Maryland Institute College of Art
B.F.A New York City School of Visual Arts
New Art Gallery Manager Charles McGill
Charles McGill is the director of the art gallery in the New Student Center at Manhattanville College. Never in a million years would someone guess from Mr. McGill’s humble personality that he is a New York Times acclaimed artist whose expositions have been featured in the Barbara Ann Levy Gallery in Chelsea, NYC.
McGill graduated with a BFA with honors from New York City’s School of Visual Arts. Subsequently, he attended the Maryland Institute College of Art at which he received his MFA. He taught painting and drawing at both of these institutes.
From the early-to-mid 90s, McGill, a golf aficionado, worked at the Westchester Country Club, and has since used golf as a prominent subject matter in his art.
According to a 2001 article by Joe Lewis of Art in America, “Using golf as a visual metaphor, McGill examines symbiotic relationships between culture, racial profiling and mass-media stereotypes by modifying the game's implements--clubs, balls and bag. He combines these "tools" with historical data, sociopolitical texts and personal ephemera, lacing his observations with humor and irony.”
On May 26, 2000, New York Times critic Ken Johnson said, “The collision Mr. McGill sets up between incongruous worlds is at once funny and sobering.”
McGill was a panelist and featured artist at a number of art exhibitions, and was a keynote speaker for Black Awareness Day at the Park School in Baltimore, MD. He was a visiting artist at the City College of New York, NYC.
Once he taught an entire course on The Wizard of Oz, using the film as a background for practical, spiritual purposes, and to guide students creatively.
For the past 3 ˝ to 4 years, McGill has devoted most of his time to his artwork. When asked what finally brought him to Manhattanville, he said, “I wanted to get back into higher education.”
McGill will facilitate art shows, oversee direction of the gallery and promote outreach programs to area children. The gallery is currently showing an exhibition of Cuban Cultural Posters.