Scott MacLeay : New Works at the Gallery Boiteux

Canadian photographer, new media artist and composer Scott MacLeay is exhibiting several pieces of new work at the Galeria Boiteux in Jurerê International, Florianópolis for two months starting January 6th, 2015. 

For this collaboration with the Galeria Boiteux, he has chosen to exhibit 4 large abstract works that illustrate his ongoing interest in exploring the nature of flat, detail-free surfaces and repetitive motifs as well as his passion for image deconstruction and the use of multiple layers of conflicting information. A renowned innovator, MacLeay has been an advocate of a more open and conceptual approach to photography and new media work in general since he began working in the fields in Paris in the late 70s. 

Commenting on this new work, MacLeay stated “I think that it is important for artists to work in several different mediums and from diverse perspectives. I have always worked on both abstract and figurative series simultaneously in addition to composing contemporary music. The cross-pollination is essential. Each type of work nourishes the others in a framework of permanent exchange. For example, the layering of textures, the chromatic profile and use of interference and noise found in the new work at the Galeria Boiteux find their roots in musical influences.”

In addition to the new works on display, several other pieces of work from MacLeay’s Paris period (1979-2009) are available for viewing, including prints included in prominent private collections and the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Museum, NYC and the Museum of Fine Art Houston in the U.S.

Concerning the contrast between his past and current work, MacLeay commented “My work has always been about intangible subject matter – how to express doubt, ambiguity, relativity, evolution. It is allegorical in nature – a metaphor for my experiences and the resulting states of mind that define my life and my relationship with the world around me. This has always been the case. However, the conceptual framework and technical processes employed to deal with this intangible subject mater is in constant evolution. I do not create work now in the same way I did 30 years ago. I am not the same person. For example, my experience with video and my work in contemporary music have led me to focus far more on the study of dynamic flows as opposed to static moments.“ Speaking more specifically about the works he has selected to exhibit MacLeay remarked "I have chosen to present some of my most recent work, images that illustrate my preoccupation with deconstruction and textural concerns and my passion for exploring the ambiguity of multiple layering. In the Notti Italiane diptych, I continue to explore the use of detail free, flat surfaces and minimal graphic elements first explored in my photographic work in the late 70s and 80s. This time these preoccupations are brought to bear on digital drawing and combined with deconstruction and repetitive processes inspired by the conceptual frameworks and compositional processes I developed in the experimental opera and contemporary dance music I composed over the past twenty years. The Triptych Lutetia 2015 explores my fascination with the repetition of similar or identical motifs to explore the evolution of dynamic flows of information and/or circumstances. The work deals with the changing nature of the Paris environment in Pairs during and following the events on the terrorist attacks in Paris and pays homage to the courage and resolution of the residents of the city that was my home for thirty years. Finally, Comparative Portraits: Variation III is a one of four images that began as a relatively classic photographic portrait. A series of planned and chance-based forms of interference were applied to the image to alter its nature until only a fragmented trace of the original work remained. It is a visual metaphor for the imperfection of our memory and for the imperfect traces that ultimately pass for some form of truth about our past identities." 

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