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The Rock and The True Believers

An Exhibition by Jillian McDonald

Exhibition Dates: May 21 – June 28, 2019
Opening Reception: Tuesday, May 21, 2019, 4 – 7 p.m.
Philip J. Steele Gallery
RMCAD campus: 1600 Pierce Street. Lakewood, CO 80214
Free + open to the public

Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design presents The Rock and the True Believers by artist Jillian McDonald in the Philip J. Steele Gallery.

Shimmering with the supernatural, McDonald’s work in new media, drawing, and performance render remote landscapes augmented by otherworldly forces. Rocky islands morph into crystals; masked figures hunt prey in the highlands; and townspeople burst with gold particles that hover in the air or fall to the earth. Her video and installations are inspired by film genres such as horror, romance, and cautionary tales that playfully manipulate simple narratives, archetypes, and local actors in uncanny landscapes.

We interviewed Jillian to learn more about her work, inspiration, and what to expect from the exhibition. Read the interview >

This event is presented as part of TimeShare by the City of Lakewood. Learn more here.

About the Artist

Jillian McDonald is a Canadian artist who lives in Brooklyn and dreams of the North.

Solo shows and projects include the Esker Foundation in Calgary, Air Circulation and Moti Hasson in New York, The San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, Centre Clark in Montréal, and Hallwalls in Buffalo. Her work was featured in group exhibitions and festivals at The Chelsea Museum and The Whitney Museum’s Artport in New York, The Edith Russ Haus for Media Art in Germany, The International Biennial of Contemporary Art in Venezuela, The Sundance Film Festival in Utah, La Biennale de Montréal, and the Centre d’Art Contemporain de Basse-Normandie in France.

A 2013 feature length radio documentary by Paul Kennedy on CBC’s IDEAS profiles her work, which has also been reviewed in The New York Times, Art Papers, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, Border Crossings, and Canadian Art. Critical discussion appears in books including The Transatlantic Zombie (2015), by Sarah Juliet Lauro and Deconstructing Brad Pitt (2014), edited by Christopher Schaberg.

McDonald has received grants and commissions from The New York Foundation for the Arts, The Canada Council for the Arts, Turbulence, The Verizon Foundation, The New York State Council on the Arts, The Experimental Television Center, and Pace University. She has attended residencies at Glenfiddich in Scotland, The Headlands Center for the Arts in California, Lilith Performance Studio in Sweden, Klondike Institute of Arts and Culture in Dawson City, The Yukon, The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Workspace in New York, and Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta. In 2017 she will be participate in the Arctic Circle Residency in Svalbard.

Image Credit: 

Jillian McDonald, Valley of the Deer, Video Still

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