Mary Mattingly

Mary Mattingly is an interdisciplinary artist who is driven to explore imagined socio-ecological futures. She builds sculptural ecosystems that prioritize access to food and clean water, resulting in large-scale participatory platforms around the world she calls “proposals”. These proposals rely on absurdity and chance encounters to shift perceptions.

In 2016, she led Swale, a floating sculpture and edible landscape on a barge in New York that depended upon water common law and inspired NYC Parks to establish their first public “Foodway.” In a city where foraging is otherwise prohibited, the Foodway provides a place where people can legally gather food from public land. Mattingly is also known for bundling personal objects into large sculptures about consumption and for large-scale artworks like Limnal Lacrimosa (of Lakes, Tears) in Montana; Vanishing Point in the UK; and the Waterpod in New York.

Mattingly’s work has also been exhibited at institutions such as Storm King Art Center, the International Center of Photography, Seoul Art Center, the Brooklyn Museum, Palais de Tokyo, Barbican Art Gallery, and Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Havana. Notable grants include the James L. Knight Foundation, the Harpo Foundation, New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Jerome Foundation.