TERRAN MCNEELY | GENTLE MAN
8 SEPTEMBER 2018 – 1 DECEMBER 2018
OPENING RECEPTION
FRIDAY 7 SEPTEMBER 2018, 6:00PM – 8:00PM
Image courtesy of the artist.
TERRAN MCNEELY | GENTLE MAN
What if masculinity was soft, tender and vulnerable? What if our male reflection could be something inspirational and approachable as opposed to threatening and confined? What are the contemporary archetypes of masculinity and how can they be challenged in order to represent a different perspective?
These are just a few of the questions I hope to provoke among viewers. I want to suggest a moment of pause and positive reflection, among audience members. Each piece conveys a gentle beauty with a sense of stillness and calm, antithetical to historical perspectives of masculinity. The subjects in this body of work explore these ideas and embrace the notion of vulnerability.
Contemporary audiences are inundated by fleeting digital media. This complement of tangible, space-specific installation in partnership with wall works is intended to slow the process of looking outward. The works begin by exploring the prolificness of self-representation on platforms like Instagram. Through the creative process, an inversion occurs whereby the creative product demands a deceleration. Finally, the viewer reconsiders what it is to be masculine today.
TERRAN MCNEELY is a Toronto based artist working in painting and installation design. In 2011 McNeely graduated from OCADU with a Bachelor of Design. He has spent the last 8 years working with space through luxury retail window and store design. He is constantly challenged with engaging the viewer and speaking to them through visual presentation. His retail work has trained him to manifest concepts and ideas without succumbing to representational tropes. Harnessing these principles, McNeely applies them to the exhibition space; expanding his paintings into physical dimension, pulling colours and objects out of the panels and into the room in order to fully immerse the viewer into a soft and deliberate environment.
Special thanks to Artist Richard A. Posa for technical support with sculpture ‘Masculinity As Decor’ included in show.