ILEANA GARCÍA ‘MAGODA’
B. 1985, Mexico CityIleana García Magoda's work investigates the liminal territories where the physical converges with the metaphysical, where order emerges from chaos, and where reality slips into dream. Working with botanical imagery as both subject and metaphor, García Magoda explores the inherent paradox of plant life—its simultaneous strength and fragility—drawing a parallel to her own navigation of chronic pain resulting from a congenital spinal condition.
Her compositions capture the dual nature of perception itself. A landscape viewed from afar presents harmony and repose, yet closer inspection reveals the tumultuous reality beneath: decay and regeneration, imperfection and vitality, the relentless cycle of life and death. García Magoda positions her work precisely within this perceptual shift, in the charged space between distance and intimacy, where mystery accumulates.
This mystery—elusive, irreducible—becomes the true subject of her practice. It is the mystery of embodiment, of being born into particular bodies with particular vulnerabilities, and of the unanswerable questions that haunt human existence. For García Magoda, the grace of botanical forms operates as a kind of visual language, a whisper gesturing toward truths that resist articulation.
García Magoda has presented solo exhibitions in Zurich, Los Angeles, and Paris, and has participated in prominent art fairs including The Armory Show and Art Basel Miami. Her work is part of distinguished private collections, as well as corporate collections such as Dior, Fendi, and the JP Morgan Chase Collection.
1985 Born in Mexico City, MX
Lives and works in Acatitlán, Mexico
EDUCATION
2003-2008 Studies in Graphic Design (Illustration), Faculty of Higher Studies (FES) Acatlán, National
Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico City
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2026 In the Body of Light, Anat Ebgi Gallery Tribeca, Forthcoming March 13 - April 25, NYC
2025 Without this longing, Emma Donnersberg Gallery, Paris, FR
Agua de vida, Anat Ebgi Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2024 Angels of Power, Angels of Beauty, Bernheim Gallery Zurich, Switzerland
2023 Crystallizations, Finca Don Porfirio Independent Space, Mexico City
2022 The Healing Power of Image, Radio Nopal independent space, Mexico City
2021 Formas Rituales, Momoroom independent space, Mexico City
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Search For Tomorrow, Bernheim Gallery group show, Frieze Week London, UK
2024 Sanctuaries, EDJI Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
BOLD, The Black Piglet at Foro La Paz, Mexico City, MX
Ileana Magoda & Emma Donnersberg, Vzug Paris, Paris, FR
From Nature, by Whitewall Art Projects, Art Basel Paris Curated by Emma Donnersberg, Marion Guggenheim & Nicholas Dewavrin, Paris, FR
The Rendezvous, by MEY Gallery at Nowita Art House, Los Angeles, CA
De aquí para allá, 54 Gallery, Mexico City, MX
Dádivas, by The Black Piglet, Maison Celeste, Mexico City, MX
Memorias en Tensión, by 54 Gallery Mérida, Mérida, Yucatán, MX
2023 Naturalezas Microscópicas, Amalgama independent space, Guadalajara, MX
MAUD Art Gallery, emerging art gallery, Edmonton, CA
Don’t Stop Keep Going,The Black Piglet Galería Unión, Mexico City, MX
Venimos a Ver, emerging art gallery, Cancun, MX
Troubling Postures, Open Call, ASC Studios, London, UK
2022 MOONI, Gallery of Emerging Art, Mexico City, MX
Manuk Art Gallery by Lourdes Rivera, San Miguel de Allende, MX
2021 Machete Gallery of Emerging Art, Mexico City, MX
ART FAIRS
2026 Zona Maco Ejes, MOONI Gallery, Art Week México, MX
2025 Art Basel Miami, Anat Ebgi Gallery Booth, Miami, USA
The Armory Show, Anat Ebgi Gallery Booth, NYC, USA
Aspen Art Fair, Anat Ebgi Gallery Booth, Aspen, CO
Dallas Art Fair, Anat Ebgi Gallery Booth, Dallas, TX, USA
2024 TRYST 2024, Torrance Museum, Torrance, CA, USA
21st Edition of the LisbonArt and Antiques Fair, Gallery Rui Freire, Lisbon
QIPO Art Fair, The Black Piglet project, Art Week Mexico, MX
Clavo Seis, emerging art fair, The Black Piglet project, Art Week Mexico, MX
2023 Clandestina Art Fair, The Black Piglet Project, Miami
Clavo Cinco, emerging art fair, The Black Piglet project, Art Week Mexico, MX
2021 FAIN Feria, emerging art fair, open call, MX
PRESS
2025 "Meet the artists behind the art: Get to know the 31 women shaping the ELLE 80th Anniversary exhibition," Elle Magazine, 2025.
Anspon, Catherine D. "What to Collect at Dallas Art Fair, Year 17," Paper City Magazine, April 7, 2025.
2024 Donoghue, Katy "Whitewall Projects Launches First Exhibition “From Nature” for Art Basel Paris," Whitewall, October 11, 2024.
Zumárraga, Regina "54 Gallery: Art, Dynamism, and Convergence," Yucatán Today, November 6, 2024.
Silverman, Erica "Artist Ileana García Magoda Gains Clarity From Nature," Whitewall, November 17, 2024.