maeve billings
on the easel
Boneyard (work in progress)
oil on Yupo, 30" x 60", 2024
artist statement
My paintings deal with the body. The forms I paint ooze through space, dragging tendrils of tissue and tumorous protrusions across the canvas. The paintings aren’t intentionally horrific but rather leverage these bodily depictions and references to engage viewers in the physicality of the paint and their own bodies. They invite visual joy in the experience of looking at paint, wrapped up in the abject remnants of body as subject matter. There is a push and pull between the repulsive nature of meat, and the attractive way in which it’s painted.
recent events
Are We There Yet?
Reinberger Gallery, 11610 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44106
Curated by Magdalena Moskalewicz and marking a point in time for 40 different CIA alumni, this exhibition attempts to tackle the question: What is it to become a mature artist? The show spans six decades of CIA graduates, from the most recent, in 2023, all the way back to 1961, becoming an extraordinary testament to a 62-year period of continuous art school education.
Coming together at one point in time, three distinct generations of makers present their recent practice: whether still earlyish, experimental attempts or established forms developed over decades of making. Regardless of age and stage of career, the artists share common pursuits: be it an exploration of form, expression of identity, analysis of social and political issues or a probe of our environmental awareness. Are we there yet on any of these subjects?
about the artist
Maeve Billings is an emerging painter from Cleveland (OH) with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Cleveland Institute of Art. They had their first two-person show at Waterloo Arts in Cleveland, collaborating with Bex Fuller to put on Collective Spaces in January 2019. Maeve has participated in group shows including the Waterloo Arts Juried Arts show and the 73rd and 74th Cleveland Institute of Art Student Independent Exhibition. They have been in various group shows in Illinois, Ohio, and Missouri. Maeve acted as the student committee chair for both the 74th and 75th Student Independent Exhibition. They have received awards including the First Agnes Gund Memorial Traveling Award. Cleveland Institute of Art Gund Family Scholarship, the Governor’s Show Scholarship, the Ted Frost ‘88 Travel Scholarship, and the Cleveland Women’s Club Scholarship.
