This exhibition traces the past fifteen years of the career of Myfanwy MacLeod, highlighting complex, irreverent works which bring into play a variety of themes and media.
Much of MacLeod’s work has explored ways of living that have sometimes been seen as marginal, including such customs as the making of backwoods “moonshine” (The Complete Practical Distiller, 2009) and the reliance on traditional folklore as a way of navigating one’s way in the world (the Hex paintings of 2009).
MacLeod also orients her work within the history of art, referencing formalist sculpture and abstract painting as well as traditional forms. Most recently, for example, she folds and cuts movie posters and pictures from men’s magazines into complex origami shapes to combine references to “high” and “low” culture.
Now based in Vancouver, MacLeod was born and raised in London, Ontario. This exhibition includes works from the Museum London collection, which were, in part, inspired by her reminiscences of a youth spent in this area. Other new works, such as Stack (2012) and Ramble On (2013) are convivial observations on youthful idealism as evoked by Led Zeppelin song titles, muscle cars, and the aesthetics used in heavy metal and popular fantasy imagery.