M. (Margaret) Pettee Olsen (b. 1963, Rochester, New York) creates large-scale paintings that explore expansive and dislocated gestures within illusory space. Through subtle precision, she layers optically shifting paint and other synthetic-bound pigments to contrast the interplay between her gesture and geometry, fine-sprayed graffiti and hard-edged marks. Her work produces imagery that flickers between surface and illusion. This irresolute quality is anchored by her deliberate hand.
Originally trained intensively in dance and invited to understudy for the American Ballet Theater, Pettee Olsen discovered her true concerns lay not in storytelling through the body but rather in perceptual shifts through movement and a rejection of absolutist perspectives. This foundational understanding of movement, spatial relationships, and perception continues to inform her work.
Her professional career began in New York’s fine art printmaking world, where projects included a variety of large-scale printmaking disciplines. At twenty-four, she became the founding curator of Oberon Press LTD, NYC, a renowned fine art limited edition lithography press in Tribeca. Following this foundational period, she devoted herself entirely to painting, developing what art historian Stephanie Grilli (Yale PhD) has termed “mutable perceptual events.”
With over three decades dedicated to painting, Pettee Olsen has established herself as a significant contemporary voice. Her career highlights have been featured in Artforum and Art News, with additional coverage in Westword (A Village Voice publication), The Denver Post, The Providence Journal, and Art New England.
Recent residencies include Michael David, M. David & Co., Brooklyn, NY (2020) and a fellowship from the Ucross Foundation (2019). She has received numerous awards, including an Artist Grant from the Rhode Island School of Design for an installation spanning the RISD campus and the Museum of the Rhode Island School of Design.
A graduate of Columbia University and the Rhode Island School of Design, M. Pettee Olsen remains actively engaged in the contemporary art scene, with symposia, interviews, and podcasts centered on her work and aesthetic concerns. She lives and works in Upstate New York.
