The Art Galleries at TCU are pleased to present “Dear Frank, I wish . . . Love Gabi 2/2/23” an exhibition of new works by Gabi Magaly. This exhibition runs September 21 – October 19, 2023 at Moudy Gallery located on the TCU campus, and will open with an artist talk 5-6pm, Thursday, September 21 in Moudy North Building 132, followed by a reception for the artist 6-8pm.

Gabi Magaly’s photographic exploration of intimate and familial relationships considers new models for self-portraiture. As a first-generation Mexican American Chicana, her work critiques the absence and erasure of brown bodies in the history of photography while simultaneously revealing and archiving the story of her family.

At Moudy Gallery Magaly presents new photography and installation work that responds to a recent breakup and efforts to find her sense of self and belonging after ending a 12-year relationship. Older works from Magaly’s Gabi and Frank series documenting her relationship with her ex-partner are presented in conversation with new works that reflect an understanding her now single identity.

More widely Magaly considers how her upbringing and identity roles placed on Latinx women affected her relationship. She is not afraid to look closer. In picturing love, support and intimacy, she also considers difficult situations of estrangement or emotional toxicity. Magaly’s honest and vulnerable approach seeks to empower others:

Life as a couple becomes a comfort zone. While living together, we don't realize how much of ourselves we set aside. When it ends, we don’t know what is more painful; losing the partner or the comfort zone? Struggling to find one’s self-worth as independent women, we must build ourselves and trust that we’re worthy under any circumstance. Trying to find peace, we’re breaking the cycle of generational trauma caused by the traditional expectations placed upon women. We’ll be able to understand that soledad is finding fulfillment as an individual on their journey to self-love. Gabi Magaly, September 2023

About the artist: Gabi Magaly received her MFA in Visual Arts at the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2020. She works predominantly in the medium of photography but also employs other mediums like sculptural installation and embroidery. Magaly has exhibited in solo shows at Satellite Gallery, Huntsville, TX; The Brick, San Antonio, TX; Presa House Gallery, San Antonio, TX; Casa Lu, Mexico City. Her numerous group exhibitions include Luis Leu Gallery, Karlsruhe, Germany; The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, San Antonio, TX; Masur Museum in Monroe, Louisiana; Museo De Las Américas in Denver, CO; New Texas Talent XXVII in Dallas, TX; Mexic-Arte Museum in Austin, TX. She has been awarded two CAMMIE awards from Blue Star Contemporary and Luminaria Contemporary Cultural Center during Contemporary Art Month 2020. She is currently serving a term on the SPE Board of Directors. Magaly currently lives in San Antonio, Texas, and works remotely at Diné College in Tsaile, Arizona. www.gabimagaly.com