Magalí Herrera

Magali Herrera (1914–1992) was a Uruguayan self taught artist who wrote, danced, acted and made films in addition to producing the oeuvre of paintings of Utopias, for which she is known.

Life

Magali Herrera was born in 1914 in Rivera, Uruguay She began painting intermittently in the early 1950s but it wasn't until 1965, after a period of severe depression, that she began to paint regularly. This activity became central to her existence with periods of intense creative work during which she would paint day and night. Depression, occasionally so intense that it resulted in suicide attempts, continued to plague her and in 1992 she took her own life. and the Art Brut Biennial II: Architectures, in 2015 for which an accompanying catalog of the exhibition Architecture: Art Brut the Collection, published by 5 Continents Editions, was produced A selection of her work was presented by at the 2010 Art Paris. In 2025 the Museum Gugging in Austria presented an extensive exhibition with over 80 works of the Uruguayan artist and also featured her correspondence with Jean Dubuffet.

Recognition

In 1967, while traveling with her husband, she completed two drawings in Paris which she took to show, renowned painter and patron of many Art Brut creators, Jean Dubuffet, leaving her work with his secretary. Dubuffet immediately bought the works. Dubuffet's interest led to other purchases: the director of Plaisir de France, Claude Fregnac, bought two pieces and author Michel Tapié acquired work as well.