Maggie
John Ahearn
Maggie
John Ahearn (b.1951, Binghamton, NY), Maggie (study for Back to School mural), 1985, Acrylic paint on reinforced plaster, 19 × 15 × 8 in (48.3 × 38.1 × 20.3 cm), Museum purchase from Artsy Auctions: Bronx, Museum: Benefit Auction 2018! 2018.169
John Ahearn is an American artist based in New York City, known for his realistic sculptural portraits. A founding member of Collaborative Projects, Inc. and co-organizer of the “Times Square Show” (1980), Ahearn’s work is held by major museums around the world. The first work by Ahearn to enter the collections at the Davis Museum, Maggie is a portrait study prepared for Back to School, an outdoor mural that was installed (and remains) at Walton Avenue at 172nd Street, across from P.S. 64 in the South Bronx, New York. Ahearn and his collaborator Rigoberto Torres create sculptures and murals from life casts of the people who live in their neighborhood. Capturing lives of the residents of the Bronx in plaster, the verisimilitude of the works brings the neighborhood to life through art. The mural Back to School depicts the activities surrounding the first day of a new school year, making the mundane monumental. Placed high on the wall across from an elementary school, Maggie and her mom are joined by fellow students and parents.