Public Projects: Myfanwy MacLeod surveys the public works of Vancouver artist Myfanwy MacLeod, presenting a range of drawings, artifacts, and renderings tied to her diverse public commissions, both realized and unrealized. The exhibition spans her early performance art to her more recent collaborative public art project for Vancouver’s BC Children’s Hospital and Women’s Health Centre.
This pedagogical exhibition, organized under the auspices of COlab, seeks to inspire student engagement with public art. The presentation highlights MacLeod's ability to navigate scales from intimate to monumental, her use of humor as social critique, and her focus on the material and social dynamics of public spaces. Gender politics, a recurring theme in her studio practice, also feature prominently.
About the Artist: Myfanwy MacLeod’s practice spans solo and group exhibitions, as well as numerous public commissions. Her work is recognized for its playful critique of societal norms and thoughtful integration of humour and materiality.
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
- 1990 The Secret Garden, The Whitehall, London, Ontario
- 1997 My Idea of Fun, Or Gallery, Vancouver
- 2006 Where I Lived, and What I Lived For, Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver
- 2013 Myfanwy MacLeod, or There and Back Again, Museum London, Ontario; Vancouver Art Gallery
Selected Group Exhibitions:
- 2007 The Banal, SBC Galerie d’art contemporain, Montreal
- 2012 Oh Canada, Mass MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts
- 2012 Builders: Canadian Biennial, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
- 2013–14 Climate is Culture, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto
Selected Public Commissions:
- 2010 The Birds, City of Vancouver, Olympic and Paralympic Public Art Program
- 2014 Playtime, BC Children’s Hospital and Women’s Health Centre, Vancouver
- 2015 Primrose, City of Toronto
Workshop: Truthiness (October 4 – 7, 2016)
MacLeod's Truthiness workshop (October 4–7) emphasized reenactment and the sculptural object, offering participants hands-on experience with her methods and themes.