ABOUT

Margarita’s painted worlds vibrate with the presence of flying teapots, falling vases and time-defying draperies. The surfaces are crafted with a meticulousness that transcends the typical definition ‘realism’. She goes above and beyond to deconstruct the painted object in her inner eye and reconstructs its presence on the canvas naturalistically, oftentimes leaving a plethora of intricate colour layers underneath.

She often chooses still life over a living being, because the stasis of an inanimate object such as a vase or cloth allows her to scrutinise its surface as long as she needs. But even her hyperrealism requires a lot of imagination – especially because it is painted from life and combines multiple angles and light situations.

Margarita seeks out the tension that arises between the Real and the Imaginative. Her trompe-l’œil clashes with the abstraction of the surrounding abstract world, ripping apart the painted reality and forcing it to acknowledge that it is just an illusion.

Her gravity-defying draperies and levitating teapots evoke a sense of subtle movement that challenges the paradigm of conventional “still” still lives. This movement is however suspended outside time: paradoxical and therefore strongly compelling to Margarita’s perception.

Margarita Montgomery was born in 1996 in Minsk, Belarus. Due to political persecution, her family was forced to flee the country just three years later. As they settled in Prague, Czech Republic, Margarita was introduced to the world of art through lessons from the esteemed printmaker Josef Dudek and academic painter Vladimír Vošahlík.

Her artistic journey continued as she enrolled at the Art Academy Burg Giebichenstein in Halle in 2016, eventually transferring to the Art Academy in Leipzig (HGB) in 2018, where she honed her craft and graduated in 2022. Now a full-time painter based in Leipzig, Margarita’s works have been showcased in cities both domestically and abroad, including galleries and offspaces in  Hamburg, Dresden, Bonn, Prague and beyond.

2018 – 2022: Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig (HGB Leipzig)– Painting and Printmaking – class Prof. Annette Schröter
2018: parallel studies at the University of Leipzig – Art History
2016-18: Academy of Fine Arts Burg Giebichenstein Halle – Painting

(S) solo exhibition (G) group exhibition

2023: “Odd Retina”, Alte Nudelfabrik, Geitz, DE (G)
2023: “Voilá: Polyphon”,  BBKL, Werkschauhalle, Spinnerei, Leipzig (DE)
2023: “Schichtwechsel”, Fabrik45Bonn, Bonn DE (G)
2023: solo exhibition “Stil[A]live”, Margarita Montgomery. Alte Handelsschule, Leipzig, DE (S)
2022: opening of art studuio T6: Margarita Montgomery & Haijun Yu, Leipzig, DE (G)
2022: “Frisch”, 4D Projektraum des BBKL e.V., Tapettenwerk, Leipzig, DE (G)
2022: “Peripherie”, Offspace Lax&Sülze, Leipzig. DE (G)
2022: “Silky Lights”, Zeit der Freiheit, Brückenloft, Leipzig, DE (G)
2022: “Start56” Gopea Kunstraum, Burg Bentheim, DE (G)
2022: “Rausch”, Werkschauhalle, Spinnerei, Leipzig, DE (G)
2021: “Game Changer”, Tapettenwerk, Leipzig, DE (G)
2021: “Lange nicht gesehen”, Thaler Originalgrafik, Leipzig, DE (G)
2021: “Seasonal Black”, Werkschauhalle, Spinnerei, Leipzig, DE (G)
2020: “Jung+Gegenständlich”, Gallery Bodenseekreis, Meersburg, DE (G)
2020: “Rundgang HGB”, HGB Leipzig, DE (G)
2019: “Mehrzahl”, Werkschau-Halle, Spinnerei Leipzig, DE (G)
2018: “Fighting the Opposites”, Neuer Sächsischer KV, Dresden, DE (G)
2017: “MK Am Steintor”, Offspace, Halle, DE (G)
2016: solo exhibition “ID-ID-ID”, Casino, Karlovy Vary, CZ (S)
2012: solo exhibition “Všehochut’”, Gallery U Zlatého Kohouta Prague, CZ (S)

2021: leading of an art-technological seminar with a focus on historical development of painting grounds at the Art History Institute of the University of Leipzig
2021-2022: Kunstverein Zentrale für Kunst e.V. (co-founder, board member)
2019-2021: Kunst Event Mehrzahl GbR (co-founder, organisation of exhibitions)