Marco Maggi: Higher Perplexity — Marco Maggi

Bienvenu Steinberg & C is pleased to present Higher Perplexity, Marco Maggi’s 11th solo exhibition in New York. The exhibition will be on view from October 8 through November 14, 2026. Maggi’s abstract language favors generic formats and materials. Devoid of any symbolism or signification, his vocabulary refers to the way information is processed in a global yet increasingly myopic era. Composed of linear pathways reminiscent of circuit boards, aerial views, genetic engineering and nervous systems, his drawings and sculptures encode the world and turn abstraction into cultural criticism.

"When reality goes too far, we don’t know which way to turn
Speechless, we open our umbrellas as if opening a set of parentheses
When common sense is suspended, we can either normalize the unprecedented
Or experience a peak of perplexity
Over time, uncertainty becomes a habit, a thrill to enjoy, without a hint of nostalgia for reason
Drawing on unusual surfaces allows one to enter a chronic state of profound perplexity
This is when perplexity becomes Higher Perplexity
For instance, marking the silky smooth side of a roll of Reynolds kitchen foil with a 4H graphite pencil
My hand gliding over Yupo paper
Slicing a Macintosh apple right down its axis
Altering the shell of a ping-pong ball
Invading a sheet of Dibond with tiny fragments of acid-free paper
Focusing attention on details allows one to resist extraordinary situations without lowering the levels of perplexity they trigger
Like crossing a raging river by jumping from one tiny piece of paper to the next”
— (Marco Maggi, 2026)

Born in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1957, Marco Maggi lives and works in New York and Uruguay. His work has been shown extensively throughout the United States, Latin America and Europe. He represented Uruguay at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015. Select exhibitions include: The Iberê Foundation Camargo, Porto Alegre, Brazil (2025); Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX (2022); Museo Brasileiro da Escultura (MUBE), São Paulo, BR (2018); Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas (2017); Courtauld Institute of Art at Somerset House, London (2016); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York (2015); Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo, BR (2012); Museum of Modern Art, New York (2008); Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2007); Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC (2006); Museum of Modern Art, New York (2005); Fifth Gwangju Biennial, KR (2004); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2003); VIII Havana Biennial, CU (2003); 25th São Paulo Biennial, São Paulo, BR (2002).

His work is included in various museum collections such as Museum of Modern Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Art Institute of Chicago; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; The Morgan Library & Museum, New York; Dallas Museum of Art; MALBA, Buenos Aires; The Bass Museum, Miami; and Pérez Art Museum, Miami.