McMaster presents Brad Isaacs Exhibition(s)

Brad Isaacs: The Visible Universe, Including the Fires of Hell

McMaster Museum of Art
McMaster University
7 May – 15 August 2015

RECEPTION

Saturday May 30, 2 – 4 pm

The Visible Universe, Including the Fires of Hell, is a selection of recent works by Brad Isaacs that, as the artist noted, operate around themes of invisibility, simulation, and the function of nature as a construction within a Western perspective. Through photography, collage and video, the exhibition highlights a complex array of relationships between animal research, hunting, colonialism, and masculinity.

nativity 3 — Brad Isaacs, Nativity #3, 2014,
Courtesy of the artist

Isaacs writes, the works “demonstrate my concern with how the scientific study of nature sets up a specific configuration of relationships between people and nature, and how those relationships are used as the foundation for the larger social structures and systems of domination that govern our lives in the West. Referencing seemingly disparate subjects such as religious painting and Rorschach cards, animals are shown as museum objects, as figures with a divine presence, and as psychological tropes.”

Brad Isaacs is an artist and independent curator, born in Hamilton and currently based in London, Ontario. He holds a BA in Fine Art from McMaster University (1999), an MFA from the University of Western Ontario and has exhibited at galleries such as the Ottawa Art Gallery, Katzman Kamen Gallery, and Hamilton Artists Inc. His work in photography, video, collage and installation investigates the complex relationships between people and nature.

MCMASTER MUSEUM OF ART
Alvin A. Lee Building
(Corner of Sterling St and University Ave/ Attached to Mills Library)
McMaster University
1280 Main St W
Hamilton, ON L8S 4L6
905.525.9140 x.23241

Admission is Free
Museum hours: Tue/Wed/Fri 11am-5pm, Thu 11-7, Sat 12-5
http://museum.mcmaster.ca
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Waking the Magicians

A concurrent installation was an invitation for Isaacs to work with the McMaster Museum of Art collection. His selection is “A gesture to bring together two works, by Carl Beam and Richard Long, which renew questions about land, place, relationships to nature in an art historical context, and the space for indigenous art within the broader contemporary art world.” Titled Waking the Magicians, it is a reference to the controversial juxtaposition of work by Richard Long and the Yuendumu language group (Northern Territories, Australia) in the 1989 “global cultures” exhibition Magiciens de la Terre at the Centre Georges Pompidou.

Brad Isaacs will be presenting an Artist’s Talk in Hamilton this Autumn. Dated and time tba. Stay tuned!

McMaster Presents Brad Isaacs at TBA Artspace, Carnegie Gallery, Dundas
The McMaster Museum of Art will be organizing a second exhibition of Brad Isaacs work in partnership with the Carnegie Gallery. From June 5 – August 2, a selection of Brad Isaacs works will be presented in TBA Artspace at the Carnegie Gallery, housed in the Gallery’s sleek new Atrium addition to its historic building in Downtown Dundas.
Reception at TBA Artspace, Carnegie Gallery: June 5, 7 – 9:30 pm