Ed McGowin

Ed McGowin, born William Edward McGowin on June 2, 1938, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, is an American painter, sculptor, and conceptual artist now based in New York City and Miami Beach, Florida. His early life is not well documented, but he drew from Southern roots throughout his career. McGowin earned a B.A. from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1961 and an M.A. in painting from the University of Alabama in 1964 via a teaching fellowship. In 1962, he relocated to Washington, D.C., working as an aide to Mississippi Congressman William M. Colmer while founding the McGowin-Bright Art School, a combined studio and supply shop. He quickly gained prominence, holding his first solo exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art that year and aligning with the second generation of the Washington Color School tradition through abstract paintings.

From 1964 to 1978, McGowin chaired the Sculpture Department at the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, shaping a generation of artists, before joining the State University of New York at Old Westbury as a professor, where he later became professor emeritus. A turning point came with his seminal *Name Change* project (1970–1972), in which he legally adopted twelve distinct personas—such as Alva Isaiah Fost and Euri Ignatious Everpure—producing unique works in varied media under each to disrupt conventional artist narratives and embrace conceptual freedom. Earlier, he co-hosted the *Giveaway* event (1969) at D.C.'s Mayflower Hotel, raffling Gene Davis's painting *Popsicle* to fifty winners. Married to artist Claudia DeMonte since 1977, he has two daughters, Leah McGowin Thomas and Jill McGowin.

Relocating to New York in 1976, McGowin pioneered vacuum-formed abstract sculptures and "inscapes," blending painting and construction in minimalist and conceptual veins. His oeuvre spans public commissions, including the Rockville Town Center sculpture (2008), Colton Codex (2007), and Art Garden at the Mississippi Museum of Art (2010). With over eighty solo exhibitions—including at the Whitney Museum, MoMA PS1, and Martha Jackson Gallery—and works in collections like the Hirshhorn Museum, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and Phillips Collection, McGowin's legacy endures as a versatile innovator who fused Southern sensibility with experimental forms, influencing conceptual and public art practices.