Gaga & Reena Spaulings, LA present Unique Boutique, an exhibition of new work by Maggie Lee.

At the end of 2022, the artist traveled to Alto Hospicio, Tarapacá, Chile, the driest desert on the planet and home to one of the world’s largest dumping grounds for unwanted and unsold clothing. Each year, approximately 39,000 tons of clothing are shipped here from all around the world: fast fashion pollution is a toxic byproduct of online shopping and the algorithms that influence global consumption. Lee returned from Chile with two suitcases packed with garments she dug up from the desert sand, upcycling these into works for her show. Displayed on a rack cobbled together from bamboo poles and twine, various outfits have been assembled from Lee’s sun-stained finds, accessorized with handmade buttons and rhinestones, silkscreen and other alterations. While vintage clothing becomes increasingly rare and unaffordable, the artist makes a long journey to reclaim the rarest, most unwanted garments, digging up fresh looks for 2023.

Welcome to My Depop Store, 2023, is a video shot in Alto Hospicio, Chile. Here we see the artist hunting for clothing in red mountains of sand, improvising what looks like a makeshift pop-up shop, and playing a slide whistle. Lee could be performing the allegorical figure of the “rag picker” from Baudelaire’s poem: a metaphor for the poetic process itself, or the one who generates value from ruins and refuse.

A series of 2022 works on canvas combine paint, gift wrapping paper, glitter, tape, stick-on letters, photocopies, tinsel, feathers and Polaroid images. Emily Ratajkowski, Sydney Sweeney and other models grace Lee’s freeform painting-like assemblages, works she originally produced as a Special Project for Miu Miu’s Fall-Winter 2022 campaign.

Installation
views

House of Gaga ❧ Unique Boutique
House of Gaga ❧ Unique Boutique
House of Gaga ❧ Unique Boutique
House of Gaga ❧ Unique Boutique
House of Gaga ❧ Unique Boutique
House of Gaga ❧ Unique Boutique
House of Gaga ❧ Unique Boutique
House of Gaga ❧ Unique Boutique
House of Gaga ❧ Unique Boutique
House of Gaga ❧ Unique Boutique

Works

House of Gaga ❧ Unique Boutique

Maggie Lee
Misshapes, 2022
Photos, acrylic, vintage glitter on canvas
30 x 34 inches

House of Gaga ❧ Unique Boutique

Maggie Lee
Welcome 2 the Dollhouse, 2022
Photos, PVC on canvas
19.75 x 19.75 inches

House of Gaga ❧ Unique Boutique

Maggie Lee

Pavement + Rainbows, 2022

Photos, acrylic, vintage glitter, ribbon on canvas

19 x 18 inches

House of Gaga ❧ Unique Boutique

Maggie Lee

Lolina, 2022

Photos, party bag, gift wrap on canvas
14 x 11 inches

House of Gaga ❧ Unique Boutique

Maggie Lee

Miu Miu Girl, 2022

Photos, tissue paper on canvas
20 x 16 inches

House of Gaga ❧ Unique Boutique

Maggie Lee
Seahorse Bathwater, 2022
Photos, photocopy, foil ribbon on canvas
12 x 12 inches

House of Gaga ❧ Unique Boutique
House of Gaga ❧ Unique Boutique

Maggie Lee

The Wild 1, 2022

Photo, tape, tinsel on canvas
14 x 8 inches

House of Gaga ❧ Unique Boutique

Maggie Lee
Boots, 2022
Photos, acrylic, glitter on canvas
13.5 x 10.5 inches

House of Gaga ❧ Unique Boutique

Maggie Lee
Forever Forever, 2022
Photos, magazine, fabric, feathers on canvas
19 x 22 inches