Object Record
Images
Metadata
Artist |
McPhail, Andrew |
Title |
Pink Red Sample |
Accession # |
997.12.48 |
Object Type |
mixed media |
Date |
1996 |
Medium |
mixed media |
Support |
Mylar |
Dimensions |
H-122 W-122 cm |
Description |
Andrew McPhail is a Canadian artist from Calgary. Living in Toronto in the 1980's and 90's his work focused primarily on drawing, often with pencil crayon on a polyester film called mylar. After moving to Hamilton in 2005, his practice shifted towards three dimensional work, performance, and painting. His accumulative, craft oriented practice reconfigures disposable materials such as band aids, Kleenex and pins into large sculpture and installations that touch upon themes such as the healing, protection and personal safety. The artist's obsessive use of ordinary first aid supplies creates heartrending yet humourous works that might be seen as a visualization of chronic disease such as HIV, which McPhail has been living with since 1993. Similarly, Pink Red Sample's title and scientific aesthetic evokes themes surrounding the body as a biological entity. The floral design and use of transparent mylar further highlights this allusion to the body, acting as a microscope into the corporal realm. Biographical Information: McPhail completed both his BFA and MFA degrees at York University. He has had recent exhibitions at the MacIntosh Gallery, London, Ontario and at the Art Gallery of Hamilton and Gallery Connexion in Fredericton New Brunswick and the Textile Museum of Canada. He lives in Hamilton, Ontario. |