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PAST EXHIBITION

Deanna Bowen around table with people Deanna Bowen around table with people

Deanna Bowen: A Harlem Nocturne

Organized and circulated by the Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver

McMaster Museum of Art
January 16 – May 9, 2020 (closed in March due to COVID-19 pandemic)

Opening Reception: Thursday 16 January 2020, 6 – 8 pm
Curator’s Talk | Kimberly Phillips: Friday, January 17, 12:30 – 1:20 p.m.
Artist Talk / In Conversation: Thursday, February 27, 7 – 9 p.m.
Deanna Bowen and Selina Mudavanhu, assistant professor, Communications Studies and Multimedia
Film Screening / Discussion: Friday, April 3, 7 – 9 p.m.
Location: Black Box Theatre, L.R. Wilson Hall, McMaster University

Deanna Bowen’s solo exhibition presents still and moving images following ongoing research into the artist’s family lineage in Canada. Bowen’s practice concerns itself with histories of Black experience in Canada and the US that remain below the threshold of visibility, not because they are impossible to see but because they are difficult for the majority of culture to acknowledge. Mining overlooked archives, forgotten documents, and related ephemera, Bowen employs a range of artistic gestures to bring traces of a complex, deeply personal and often violent past into public visibility. The exhibition takes up many of the concerns currently shaping discussions in photography and Black visual studies.

Canada Council

Image: Deanna Bowen, Theatre Under the Stars’ cast photo from Finian’s Rainbow, circa 1953, 2019, archival inkjet print on cotton rag, paper, 22.5 x 18.5 inches. Courtesy the artist, Theatre Under the Stars and Cecilia and Roger Smith

Curated by: Kimberly Phillips

January 16, 2020 – May 09, 2020

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

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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.

Please note that there has been a delay in the OAC opening the 2024-2025 program. This webpage will be updated with our deadlines as soon as possible.

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