Photo courtesy The Cleveland Press Collection, Michael Schwartz Library, Cleveland State University
“The meaning of life is the subject of art.
“We are all thirsty. If the cup be gold but contain no water, what use?
“Put content, content, content in.”
About Bruce MacGibeny
Bruce MacGibeny (1931 – 2010) was a prolific visual artist and poet. He created paintings, drawings, sculptures, and poems throughout a career spanning more than 50 years.
MacGibeny’s paintings have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in galleries and cultural centers, including Joseph Fischl Gallery, Straus Gallery, Hudson Guild Art Gallery, and Ingber Gallery in New York City; The Wichita Center for the Arts in Wichita, Kansas; the Midtown Gallery, Karamu House, and Intown Club in Cleveland, Ohio; and the Eszterhazy Gallery in Palm Beach, Florida. His work is held in numerous private collections.
MacGibeny came from a long line of musicians. The “McGibeny Family” or “M’Gibeny Family,” once billed as the largest musical family in the world, played for enthusiastic crowds across the United States for many years during the late 1800s. MacGibeny’s original creative passion was jazz trumpet, but when introduced to painting in college, he decided to become a visual artist.
During the late 1970s he was a member of The Street Painters, a group that created urban scenes in a variety of expressive styles.
Many of MacGibeny’s poems are inspired by his paintings, and vice versa. Author and aviator Anne Morrow Lindbergh called him “a natural-born poet.”
MacGibeny was born in Chicago, Illinois, and worked for most of his career in New York City.