ILEANA GARCÍA ‘MAGODA’
B. 1985, Mexico CityIleana García Magoda's works—rendered in vibrant acrylics with powerful, dynamic and yet expressive gestures—explore the inherent paradox of plant life: its simultaneous strength and fragility. This investigation is rooted in her lifelong navigation of Occult Spinal Dysraphism, a congenital spinal condition. The sustained, repetitive act of painting becomes a direct transcription of chronic pain into visual form, as her audacious use of color transforms physical endurance into chromatic abundance.
Her compositions capture the dual nature of perception itself. A canvas viewed from afar presents harmony and dreamlike beauty, yet closer inspection reveals the tumultuous reality beneath: decay nestled within growth, imperfection coexisting with vitality, the relentless cycle of life and death. García Magoda positions her work precisely within this perceptual shift, constructing a threshold that invites viewers to oscillate between comfort and unease, distance and intimacy—to feel the mystery of embodiment in the tension between idealized botanical form and lived, vulnerable reality.
For García Magoda, the grace of botanical forms operates as a universal language for this shared human mystery: the experience of inhabiting particular bodies with particular vulnerabilities, and the questions about resilience and transformation that cannot be answered, only felt. This nuanced exploration has resonated with international audiences, from solo exhibitions in Zurich, Los Angeles, and New York to presentations at The Armory Show and Art Basel Miami. Her work is held in distinguished private and corporate collections including Dior, Fendi, and JP Morgan Chase, whose engagement affirms the broader cultural relevance of her inquiry into beauty, fragility, and the visual articulation of embodied experience.
1985 Born in Mexico City, MX
Lives and works in Acatitlán, Mexico
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2026 In the Body of Light, Anat Ebgi Gallery Tribeca, 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 Art Paris, Emma Donnersberg Gallery, Gran Palais, Paris, FR
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
EDUCATION
2003-2008 Studies in Graphic Design (Illustration), Faculty of Higher Studies (FES) Acatlán, National
Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico City
PRESS
2026 Lakshmi Rivera Amin “A Vie From the Easel”, Hyperallergic, February 12, 2026
Attia Taylor “In the Body of Light: Ileana García Magoda Transforms Chronic Pain at Anat Ebgi in NYC, February 27, 2026
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