A solo exhibition by Myfanwy MacLeod entitled The Undesirables, features works drawn from her public art endeavours over the past ten years and including both realized and unrealized projects as well as propositional ideas. Studies, casts, and working models created as part of the design and production process, largely overlooked as art works in their own right, are on display in the exhibition as are works that have grown out of her public art projects. 

At the centre of the exhibition is a twelve-foot tall cast for Primrose, a sculpture of a donkey soon to be installed in Toronto. Like MacLeod’s set of iconic public sculptures, The Birds, installed in Vancouver’s Olympic Village, Primrose is the antithesis of the soulless “turd in the plaza” (a phrase coined by architect James Wines). Both of these public sculptures, along with The Lady, a camel installed in North Vancouver, make up a trilogy that alludes to the symbolic language of animals in Western art. At the same time, they reference histories and specifics of the sites where they are permanently located. This blending of art history, popular culture and folklore is a consistent feature of MacLeod’s work whether it is presented in a gallery or a public space. It skillfully walks the line between conceptual consideration and the appealing whimsy.