Isabelle Frances McGuire

For their first solo exhibition at Bel Ami, Isabelle Frances McGuire conjures the foundations of a game world set in a fictionalized colonial-era Salem, Massachusetts. McGuire's mise-en-scène includes a playable segment of a video game, bronze statuettes of our heroine Joy, and her amphibian cohort—all named Sister—as well as a series of hand-woven baskets. Situated amongst character design and establishing narrative fragments is a call to adventure, or at least, to survive. The mission of this game is not just to triumph over the dark sorcery taking hold of a small town. Rather, you must decide how to play when you find yourself the accused: culpable and capable of inciting fear in others. What action do you take?

Isabelle Frances McGuire (b. 1994, Austin, TX) lives and works in Chicago. They received their BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Past solo and two person presentations include Year Zero, The Renaissance Society, Chicago (2024); LOOP, King's Leap, New York (2021); The First Machine, What Pipeline, Detroit (2023); Scherben, Berlin (2022); Dresses Without Women, Mickey, Chicago (2021); P**** B**** Arena, Good Weather at Et al., San Francisco (2020); Digesting Duck Entry Level Position, From The Desk of Lucy Bull, Los Angeles (2020); and I'm A Cliche, Prairie, Chicago (2018). A large-scale installation by McGuire was presented in the Whitney Biennial 2026. Other recent group shows include Ornament & Information, Gertie, Chicago (2026); Claire's Camera, N/A, Seoul (presented by King's Leap, New York, 2026); Phone Sleeper, Drei, Cologne (2025); My Story Gallery, High Art & Sister, Seoul (2024); Artists Space, New York (2024); Multi-User Dungeon (MUD), Petzel Gallery, New York (2024); Descending the Staircase, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (2023); Tell Me What You Want, Bel Ami, Los Angeles (2023); M. LeBlanc, Chicago (2023); In Lieu, Los Angeles (2020); and At the End of the Game You Will Be Forgotten, Alyssa Davis Gallery, New York (2018). McGuire received an Artadia Award in 2025.