Morag Keil
Morag Keil’s practice can be described as ouroboric: self-referring, self-erasing, self- consuming, regurgitating. Keil’s installations have the bald efficiency of something bargain-bucket but workable. The clunky papier-mâché houses downtrodden with office heels or low-fi glitchy videos actualises her reflection of contemporaneity’s squashing and conditioning of subjectivity, as well as the interlocking of production and pleasure. Beneath the watermark of professionalism and propriety lies a cesspit of personal contradictions and anxiety-trimmed mediations.
Through a wide variety of mediums including painting, photography, sculpture, installation and video, as well as collaborative projects with artists such as Georgie Nettell, Keil’s work often relieve the aestheticising cliché of post-financial crash and millennial precarity. In her gallery exhibition, Here We Go Again, the artist simulated in three dimensions an out of date video game mocking home automation: doors with peepholes open up to doors, walls painted in soft pink and green screen, and televisions playing a lush forest CGI animation from a BBC One ident, which then cut to a blue circle that wobbled as a voice-over asked in the half- droning tones of Amazon’s virtual assistant, Alexa. Behind Keil’s work is the demand to know why we live like this and the impulse to tear it all down; but, until that happens, we wander.
Keil uses what she describes as ‘limp gestures’ to appeal to the impoverishment of self-image, the abduction of the real, and the hapless quality of screen-based experience that trades the spontaneous for the scripted. Yet, more than simply touting mainstream commentary about the evils of technology, media illiteracy, or idle consumption, Keil’s work engages with contemporary reality in terms of language and form. It is neither direct critique nor personal plight against the contemporary condition. Rather, Keil drives us towards reflections on subjectivity, preconceived interpretations and misconceptions.
Her celebrated solo institutional exhibition, Moarg Keil, presented a survey of a decade’s work at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London in 2019. She has previously presented works Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Fondazione Prada, Venice; Swiss Institute, New York; Yale Union, Portland; LUMA Westbau, Zurich, amongst numerous other institutions.
In 2025, she will present her forth solo exhibition at Project Native Informant, London.
Keil’s paintings and sculptures can be found in the public collections of the British Council, London, FENIX Museum, Rotterdam and Fondation d’entreprise Galeries Lafayette, Paris.

Installation View
Morag Keil
FIAC 2011, 2024
di volta in volta, Paris

Morag Keil
The Price of Freedom
2024
Toy rabbits, magicians hats, Perspex and wood
100 x 200 x 30 cm
39 3/8 x 78 3/4 x 11 3/4 in

Morag Keil
Detail: The Price of Freedom
2024
Toy rabbits, magicians hats, Perspex and wood
100 x 200 x 30 cm
39 3/8 x 78 3/4 x 11 3/4 in

Morag Keil
Detail: The Price of Freedom
2024
Toy rabbits, magicians hats, Perspex and wood
100 x 200 x 30 cm
39 3/8 x 78 3/4 x 11 3/4 in

Installation View
Morag Keil
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, 2024
Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi, Berlin

Installation View
Morag Keil
Free Like Only Animals Can Be, 2022
Project Native Informant, London

Morag Keil
Pepsi playing Animal Crossing
2022
Acrylic on canvas, collage, dentist lamp, LED light, steel, plastic and found material on steel pegboard
50 x 128 x 16 cm
19 3/4 x 50 3/8 x 6 1/4 in

Morag Keil
Pepsi
2022
Acrylic on canvas, plastic toy lamp, epoxy resin, wheels, circuit boards, collage and disk tray on steel pegboard
64 x 43 x 8 cm
25 1/4 x 16 7/8 x 3 1/8 in

Morag Keil
Clock
2018
Found shoes and clock mechanism
Dimensions variable

Installation View
Morag Keil
LIFES, 2021
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles

Installation View
Morag Keil
Nothing To Write Home About, Kim?, 2022
Contemporary Art Centre, Riga

Installation View
Morag Keil
Moarg Keil, 2019
Institute of Contemporary Art, London

Morag Keil
Still: passive aggressive
2016
Single-channel video
11 mins, 04 secs

Installation View
Morag Keil
Here We Go Again, 2018
Project Native Informant, London

Installation View
Morag Keil
Here We Go Again, 2018
Project Native Informant, London

Morag Keil
Palais de Token (Grey Portrait)
2013
Acrylic on canvas
65 x 54 x 2 cm
25 5/8 x 21 1/4 x 3/4 in

Morag Keil
Reap what you sow
2013
Wood, cotton, metal bucket and toy cars
Dimensions variable

Morag Keil, Georgie Nettell
Still: The Fascism of Everyday Life
2016
Single-channel HD video
11 mins, 44 secs

Morag Keil, Georgie Nettell
Still: The Fascism of Everyday Life
2016
Single-channel HD video
11 mins, 44 secs

Morag Keil
Computer 2
2016
Oil on canvas
36 x 45.5 x 2 cm
14 1/8 x 17 7/8 x 3/4 in

Morag Keil
Blob 1
2016
Vinyl
Dimensions variable

Morag Keil
Carrera by Jimmy Choo
2016
Paper collage in artist frame
31.5 x 21.5 x 1.5 cm
12 3/8 x 8 1/2 x 5/8 in

Morag Keil
Let's Buy Back Our Piece of Mind
2016
Pen and collage on paper, framed
58.5 x 79 x 2 cm
23 1/8 x 31 1/8 x 3/4 in

Installation View
Morag Keil
Passive Aggressive, 2016
Isabella Bortolozzi, Berlin

Installation View
Morag Keil
Would you eat your friends?, 2014
Real Fine Arts, New York City

Morag Keil
Detail: Helmet
2017
Found motorcycle helmet and flip cam
28 x 25 x 33 cm
11 x 10 x 13 in

Installation View
Morag Keil
Potpourri, 2013
Cubitt Gallery, London

Morag Keil
Still: Potpourri
2013
Single-channel HD video
7 mins, 14 secs

Morag Keil
Still: Potpourri
2013
Single-channel HD video
7 mins, 14 secs

Installation View
Morag Keil
Would you eat your friends?, 2014
Real Fine Arts, New York

Morag Keil
Untitled (Cube)
2016
C-type prints on foam board
50 x 50 x 50 cm
19 3/4 x 19 3/4 x 19 3/4 in

Installation View
Morag Keil
Civil War, 2012
Outpost Gallery, Norwich

Morag Keil
Untitled (Piss Painting 1)
2014
Oxidized copper water-based paint on canvas
72 x 56 x 2 cm
28 3/8 x 22 1/8 x 3/4 in

Morag Keil
Untitled (Piss Painting 3)
2014
Oxidized copper water-based paint on canvas
72 x 56 x 2 cm
28 3/8 x 22 1/8 x 3/4 in

Installation View
Morag Keil
L.I.B.E.R.T.Y., 2014
Project Native Informant, London

Installation View
Morag Keil
Universe, 2017
Life Sport, Berlin

Installation View
Morag Keil
Universe, 2017
Life Sport, Berlin

Morag Keil
Elle
2013
Acrylic on paper
Dimensions variable

Installation View
Morag Keil
Moarg Kiel, 2011
Palais de Tokyo, Paris
Solo Exhibitions

A LIFE LESS ORDINARY
Ivory Tars, Glasgow

Free Like Only Animals Can Be
PNI, London

Here We Go Again
PNI, London

L.I.B.E.R.T.Y.
PNI, London

Moarg Keil
Institute of Contemporary Art, London

Potpourri
Cubitt Gallery, London

Civil War
Outpost Gallery, Norwich

Moarg Kiel
Palais de Tokyo, Paris

Virginia Ham
Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen

Inside
100 Bell Towers, Montreal

Fiac 2011
Di Volta in Volta, Paris
Group Shows
Morag Keil
Lifes
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles

Morag Keil
Stop Painting
Fondazione Prada, Venice

Morag Keil
Haunted Haus
Swiss Institute, New York

Hal Fischer, Morag Keil
Maskulinitäten
Bonner Kunstverein, Kölnischer Kunstverein and Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf

Georgie Nettell, Morag Keil
Questionnaire
Yale Union, Portland

Georgie Nettell, Morag Keil
HOME
LUMA Westbau, Zurich

Morag Keil
Looks
Institute of Contemporary Art, London

Morag Keil, Georgie Nettell
Questionnaire
PNI Online

Morag Keil
MOMENTUM 12 - Nordic Biennial of Contemporary Art
Galleri F 15, Moss, Norway

Juliana Huxtable, Morag Keil
LISTE 2017
LISTE, Basel

DIS, GCC, Morag Keil
Art Cologne 2017
Art Cologne, Cologne

DIS, Georgie Nettell, Morag Keil
Various Others
Deborah Schamoni, Munich

Flo Brooks, Morag Keil, Sean Steadman
Frieze London 2018
Frieze, London

Georgie Nettell, Morag Keil
Frieze London 2015
Frieze, London

DIS, Morag Keil, Sean Steadman
Independent New York 2016
Independent, New York

Morag Keil
THEY
Le Consortium, Dijon

Morag Keil, Dozie Kanu
HOI KÖLN TEIL 2: IM BAUCH DER MASCHINE
Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne

Morag Keil
Crumbling The Antiseptic Beauty
Fondation d'Entreprise Pernod Ricard, Paris

DIS, Juliana Huxtable, Morag Keil
Frieze Seoul 2024
Frieze Seoul, Seoul

Morag Keil, Bedros Yeretzian and Nicole-Antonia Spagnola
The Melting Pot
Glasgow International | Ivory Tars, Glasgow

Morag Keil
Rushes
Fluentum, Berlin

Press
Morag Keil: Limp Gestures
Various Artists

The Lamblike Cunning of Morag Keil
TANK Magazine

Review: Morag Keil at Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
Flash Art

Critics Pick: Morag Keil at Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
Artforum

Morag Keil’s Lo-Fi Environments Reflect on Alienation and Escape
Frieze

Review: Morag Keil, Here We Go Again at Project Native Informant, London
Art Monthly

Review: Morag Keil at Project Native Informant, London
Contemporary Art Writing Daily

Review: Morag Keil, Passive Aggressive at Eden Eden, Berlin
Mousse Magazine

DOMESTIC BATTLEGROUNDS: Morag Keil and Georgie Nettell in Conversation with Fred Fischli & Niels Olsen
Mousse Magazine

Morag Keil: Would You Eat Your Friends?
ArtReview

Life Is Better Everywhere Recreation Takes You
AQNB

Morag Keil: Future Great - Potpourri at Cubitt Gallery, London
ArtReview

Review: Morag Keil, Civil War at Outpost, Norwich
Frieze

With a Little Help From My Friends
Mousse Magazine
