Malcolm McCormick
Malcolm McCormick’s multifaceted painting practice interrogates the phenomenon of historical atemporality within contemporary painting. To arrive at his compositions, he draws from an ever-expanding archive of shapes he has extracted from a range of modernist paintings. These shapes, although primarily unrecognizable, imbue McCormick’s painting with a sense of art history.
In addition to what the paintings are “of”, how they are painted is equally important. From sculptural minimalism to gestural abstraction, McCormick maintains a stylistic and methodological freedom across his output, and this flexibility allows him to leverage the differences between his works to his advantage. Through careful arrangement of his paintings according to their varying art historical references, he presents installations of paintings whose interconnectivity is as important as any one painting. The tension between works is the driving force of his practice, yet each work is unified by a deeply personal sense of colour and paint handling.
Many of McCormick’s works are “composite” paintings in which multiple stretcher panels make up a singular painting. Ranging from simple diptychs to complicated, interlocking forms, the constructed compositions in these works have an immovable quality that stands in contrast to the provisionality of their painterly surfaces. By drawing attention to the painting’s support, his composite works emphasize and complicate the inherent tension between image and object in painting, adding further depth to this relationship.
Malcolm McCormick lives and works in Montreal. He holds an MFA from Concordia University, and a BFA from the University of British Columbia, Okanagan. Recent exhibitions include Les plus beaux cauchemars / Cruel to Be Kind (Le Livart, 2023), Le printemps du MAC (2023), and no order (Joe Project, 2023). His first solo exhibition with the gallery will take place in April 2024.
Art Toronto 2023
From October 26-29, 2023
Selected Artworks
+ CV
EDUCATION
2019 - MFA in Painting and Drawing, Concordia University, Montreal (QC)
2014 - BFA, University of British Columbia-Okanagan, Kelowna (BC)
RESIDENCIES
2018 Residencia Corazón, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
AWARDS AND GRANTS
2018-19
- British Columbia Arts Council Scholarship Award, BCAC (BC)
2017-18
- Faculty of Fine Arts Fellowship, Concordia University, Montreal(QC)
2017
- Out-of-Province Fee Remission, Concordia University, Montreal(QC)
2016-17
- Concordia Merit Scholarship, Concordia University, Montreal (QC)
2016
- Presentation in conjunction with Object Affections, Vernon Public Art Gallery, Vernon (BC)
2014
- Dean’s Office Purchase Award, UBC Okanagan, Kelowna (BC)
- Programming Committee member, Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art, Kelowna (BC)
- Dean’s Honour List, UBC Okanagan, Kelowna (BC)
- Quick Talks: Exploring Themes in Unreal, presentation at the Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna (BC)
- Coordinator, Intermission student exhibition series, Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art, Kelowna (BC)
- Bank of Montreal’s Art 1st! competition nomination, UBC Okanagan, Kelowna (BC)
- Vice Chancellor’s Scholarship for Returning Students, UBC Okanagan, Kelowna (BC)
2013
- British Columbia Arts Council Scholarship Award, BCAC (BC)
+ Solo exhibitions
2024
- (Upcoming) Galerie Nicolas Robert, Montréal (QC)
2018
- Hunker, Residencia Corazon, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2016
- Object Affections, Vernon Public Art Gallery, Vernon (BC)
2015
- Almost All It Is, Window gallery, in conjunction with the Intermission series, Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art, Kelowna (BC)
+ Selected group exhibitions
2024
- (Upcoming) Chapitre III, Galerie Nicolas Robert, Montréal (QC)
2023
- Les plus beaux cauchemars / Cruel to Be Kind, Livart, Montréal (QC)
- no order, Joe Project, Montréal (QC)
2019
- The Studio, Lake Country Art Gallery, Lake Country (BC)
2018
- Ignition 14, Leonard Bina and Ellen Gallery, Montréal (QC)
2017
- The Leftovers, Project 435, Montréal (QC)
- Double Vision, Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna (BC)
2014
- Ellipsis, University of British Columbia Okanagan Graduation Exhibition, Kelowna (BC)
- Fourway, Headbones Gallery, Vernon (BC)
2013
- Youngblood Landscape, Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art, Kelowna (BC)
- Proof Positive, Vernon Public Art Gallery, Vernon (BC)
+ Art Fairs
2024
- Plural, Montréal (QC)
2023
- Art Toronto, Toronto (ON)
+ Press and publications
2017
- “Seeing Double at the Kelowna Art Gallery”, Kelowna Capital News, Online. Kelowna (BC)
- “Double Vision,” article based on media release, The Daily Courier, March 9, p. 84, print. Kelowna (BC)
- Listing, Preview: The Gallery Guide, February/March, Vol. 31, No. 1, p. 22, print. Vancouver (BC)
- “Must-Sees This Week: February 16 to 22, 2017,” exhibition listing, online. Canadian Art, Canada.
- “Double Vision at the Kelowna Art Gallery,” Galleries West (Western Canada), article based on media release, February 18, online.
2015
- Exhibition Catalogue: Object Affections, Lubos Culen, Vernon (BC) (isbn: 978-1-927407-28-8)
2014
- Fourway, catalogue with text by Julie Oakes, Vernon (BC) (isbn: 978-1-926605-71-5)