The McMaster Museum of Art presents:

VOYAGER

Albrecht Dürer, William Hogarth, and Patrick Mahon with Stowaways

August 27, 2013 – January 25, 2014

RECEPTION: September 19, 6 – 8 pm

ARTIST’S TALK by PATRICK MAHON: October 17, 2:30 – 3:20 pm

The exhibition presents new works by Patrick Mahon, alongside works Mahon has selected by contemporary artists, including David Merritt, Sky Glabush, Jamelie Hassan, Colette Urban (1952-2013) and Jeannie Thib, and historical work (from McMaster’s collection) by Albrecht Dürer (1471 – 1528) and William Hogarth (1697 – 1764).

Mahon examines the critical role of visual art in moral teaching in the West in the past and the complex ways in which many artists engage in the ‘ethical side’ of their work today.

Says Mahon, “As an artist, I am interested in my role as a social critic, and also fascinated at the idea of the artist as a suspicious or foolish figure in culture. In this regard, both Sebastian Brant’s notion of a ‘ship of fools’ on which no social being could avoid potential inclusion, and the idea of the suspect character of the artist-rhetorician, are rich sites of consideration for me.”

Mahon’s new graphic/wall sculptures made specifically for this exhibition, are “printed stick drawing”/relief sculptures of a shipwreck. The graphic detail on the sticks are drawn with references Hogarth’s prints.  The objects to be borrowed from the contemporary artists, to be collectively titled Stowaways, will be presented together amidst a handmade black net on a light table.

Patrick Mahon is a London-based artist, writer and teacher/academic; he was Chair of Visual Arts at the University of Western Ontario from 2000 - 2010. His work as a visual artist includes print-based projects that engage with historical and contemporary aspects of printmaking, and involves responding to gallery and museum collections as well as establishing community-based art initiatives, including several regarding the environment. Mahon’s artwork has been exhibited widely, both nationally and internationally.

LIST OF WORKS