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PAST EXHIBITION

Gary Spearin: iNifiNiTi

Since 2007 Gary Spearin has been producing a series of paintings that are displayed as an installation titled iNifiNiTi, which he has conceived as an optical device to explore and to visualize the resonant dynamics of time and our experience and perception of it.

While the presentation in any given gallery installation is variable, determined by factors such as available wall space, they are always installed in a uniform grid, and in an order decided by the artist only during the hanging. The grid serves as a formal grounding structure contrasting with the spontaneous order of placement. Within it there are infinite possibilities for reading the works individually or the installation as a whole.

The individual titles are derived from dates (month/day/year) of sometimes personal significance but mostly of random selection, and always unrelated to the date of their making. The surfaces of the paintings are so visually rich and intricately detailed that any one of them invites endless, obsessive viewing, as does the whole of the installation. Each work possesses a unique character, yet the identity of individual works can easily be obscured by the overwhelming nature of the group. The whole is the sum of its parts and each of the parts is a self-contained whole. Spearin is painting pictures of ephemeral, infinite dimensions that exist beyond those which we can perceive or know.

– Excerpted from the exhibition catalogue essay “Picture Infinity”;
David Liss, Artistic Director and Curator, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto.

The exhibition and catalogue are presented as a collaboration between Museum London and the McMaster Museum of Art.

As a complementary installation, PAINTING BEYOND a body of views, Gary Spearin has selected works from the McMaster Museum of Art collection by Art & Language, Marcel Duchamp, Richard Hamilton, Alfredo Jaar, Leon Kossoff and Gerhard Richter to disrupt categorization in a purposeful way and thereby explore “the enigma of things.”

Gary Spearin was born in Hamilton; he studied at the Nova Scotia College of Art and the University of Guelph. This is Spearin’s first Hamilton public gallery exhibition since 1995. He currently lives at Lake Huron between Kettle Point and Blue Point and teaches at Fanshawe College in London.

Curated by: McMaster Museum of Art

May 12, 2012 – August 18, 2012

collage of artist work
VIEW ARCHIVE
Link to Exhibitions Archive for a complete list of past exhibitions

PAST EXHIBITIONS

A blurred person walks in front of a wall featuring the photographic series Grace (2006). The artworks on display are photos of figures with hands covering their faces. Installation view of I'm Not Your Kinda Princess at Plug In ICA.

Lori Blondeau: I’m Not Your Kinda Princess

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A photo of The Clichettes dressed as muscular men with wild hair, they are jumping mid-air holding colourful guitars.

The Clichettes: Lips, Wigs, and Politics

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Faded title

SUMMA 2024: Yearbook

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Detail of Rajni Perera, Storm, 2020.

Rajni Perera: Futures

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A collaged and layered photograph of the Grand River floats in the centre of a black background, along with the words: Arenhátyen tsi ní:tsi teyottenyonhátye’ kwató:ken tsi nī:tsi yonkwa’nikonhrayén:ta’s Image courtesy of Courtney Skye. The list of artists is displayed along the bottom: Dakota Brant, Denny Doolittle, Elizabeth Doxtater, Kaya Hill, Rick Hill, Arnold Jacobs, Ken Maracle, Shelley Niro, Protect The Tract Artist Collective, Steve Smith, Greg Staats, Kristen E. Summers, Jeff Thomas

We Remain Certain
Arenhátyen tsi ní:tsi teyottenyonhátye’ kwató:ken tsi nī:tsi yonkwa’nikonhrayén:ta’s

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Two artworks suspended in a grey background; Nicholas Baier's Octobre, and Shelley Niro's Nature's Wild Children.

Chasm

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Artist Mike MacDonald in Gage Park, photo captured by Dianne Bos.

Lisa Myers: Finding what Grows

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The SUMMA 2023 logo is an overlapping triple diamond design, featuring shapes coloured in gradient from red to yellow, purple to pink, and green to blue. The logo is suspended in the centre of a background consisting of a pink and blue swirling gradient.

SUMMA 2023 – Where We Intersect: Identities, Environments, Activisms

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SUBMISSIONS & ASSISTANCE

SUBMISSIONS:

The McMaster Museum of Art is presently not accepting artists’ submissions for exhibitions at this time of leadership change at the museum.  Our Interim Director will be undertaking a review of the museum’s forward exhibition schedule, as well as our policies and procedures, in the coming months.  Our present focus is the ongoing maintenance of our permanent collection and storage needs for future collection activities.

The museum remains committed to our collecting priority in the continued support of early career, mid-career and established Indigenous artists, artists of the Black diaspora and racialized artists through purchases and commissions. Donations will be welcomed and reviewed at a future date which will be posted on our website.

ASSISTANCE:

The McMaster Museum of Art is a third party recommender for Ontario Arts Council (OAC) Exhibition Assistance Grants.

The museum is currently accepting applications. Our next program deadline is: December 16, 2024.

Priorities:
Artists who demonstrate an interest and consideration of art as a medium for social change and action.

Please follow the guidelines established by the Ontario Arts Council, apply directly through their website, and submit the following with your applications:

Brief artist statement
Confirmation letter from the gallery/museum/venue
Budget
CV
Digital images of work