2019, LONDON, UK
NEIGHBOURS
EXHIBITED AT CANADA HOUSE GALLERY
CURATED BY NIGEL PRINCE
Neighbours presents a selection of recent works alongside maquettes for public commissions. Revealing her process and interest in materiality, scale and meaning, these combine to embody the underlying playful humour of her practice while encompassing her ongoing interest in more profound environmental concerns.
Central to the exhibition is a sequence of framed watercolours used in 2018 as the basis for a public artwork, Neighbours, a series of large-scale posters displayed at 20 sites around Vancouver that corresponded with the 100th anniversary of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act established between Canada and the US, considered to be one of the most successful conservation laws in North American history.
With conservation as her backdrop, MacLeod’s watercolour drawings depict birds afforded protection by the Canada-US treaty and incorporate different species gathered together into one diverse flock. Also presented in the exhibition is MacLeod’s woven piece Purr, Purr, Purr(2018), inspired by Canadian author Margaret Atwood’s speech at the ornithological gathering that called for a positive conversation about the role that cats play in the killing of migratory songbirds that “didn’t completely annoy cat people”.
The Contemporary Art Gallery in partnership with the City of Vancouver Public Art Program.
Source: Contemporary Art Gallery
Photos: Scott Massey