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Megan Ellen MacDonald - "Modern Love"

Past exhibition
11 December 2021 - 8 January 2022
  • Overview
  • Works
  • Installation Views
Overview
Megan Ellen MacDonald Pucker Up, 2021 oil on canvas 20 x 16 in 50.8 x 40.6 cm
Megan Ellen MacDonald
Pucker Up, 2021
oil on canvas
20 x 16 in
50.8 x 40.6 cm

Hashimoto Contemporary is pleased to present Modern Love, the debut US solo exhibition by Megan Ellen MacDonald. The Toronto-based artist’s latest body of oil paintings explore femininity and power through contemporary still life compositions. MacDonald creates intricate vignettes using 3D software and virtual reality, then documents the scenes utilizing classical oil painting techniques. 

 

Informed by historical still life painting of the Dutch Golden Era, the artist’s rendering of her uncanny world are coded with contemporary iconography. Porcelain figurines and ripe, plasticized fruit nestled among glossy flowers, serve as memento mori and allegory for the femme experience, objectification and power. The artist’s commentary on objectification are embedded within the slick, manufactured subjects as commodity.

 

Saturated and impossibly perfect, MacDonald’s subjects depict feminine identity as “both empowering and messy” in their beauty, flaws and complexity. Each composition pulls apart the dichotomy of gender and power while simultaneously acknowledging the intricacies of femme identity, empowerment and agency. The delicate porcelain figurines within her paintings have come to life and glide through the vibrant tableaus filled with innuendo and symbolism. Fruits dangle from gilded branches dripping with glossy syrup or blood, creating an enticing yet unnerving scene - akin to the complexities of self empowerment and identity.

 

The exhibition will be on view Saturday, December 11th to Saturday, January 8th. For more information on this exhibition or to request an online collector's preview, please contact LA director, Dasha Matsuura at la@hashimotocontemporary.com

 

Appointments to view the exhibition can be made here. 

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Works
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald "Pressure to Perform" oil painting of blue striped boot resting on peach with lipstick kiss
    Megan Ellen MacDonald, Pressure to Perform, 2021
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald "Blood Orange" oil painting of orange branch with pearls and petals on green and yellow background
    Megan Ellen MacDonald, Blood Orange, 2021
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald "Permanent Impermanence" painting of pink and red floral arrangement in blue vase with skull on striped tablecloth
    Megan Ellen MacDonald, Permanent Impermanence, 2021
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald "Wet" oil painting of white and pink ceramic cat figurine with teacup in background
    Megan Ellen MacDonald, Wet, 2021
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald painting of oranges and pearls
    Megan Ellen MacDonald, Pucker Up, 2021
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald "Eat Your Heart Out" painting arm holding orange slice in the shape of heart
    Megan Ellen MacDonald, Eat Your Heart Out, 2021
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald "Guilty Pleasure" painting of swan floating in water with flowers and pearls
    Megan Ellen MacDonald, Guilty Pleasure, 2021
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald "Ophelia" oil painting of hand coming out of water reaching for red apple, surrounding pink flowers
    Megan Ellen MacDonald, Ophelia, 2021
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald "Temptation" oil painting of apple surrounded by white ceramic snake and pink flowers on pink and blue gradient background
    Megan Ellen MacDonald, Temptation, 2021
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald "Death of Flora" oil painting of pink skull adorned with pearls and flowers with tea cup with orange inside
    Megan Ellen MacDonald, Death of Flora, 2021
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald "Exposed" cut apple with white flowers and pearl chain against green and yellow gradient background
    Megan Ellen MacDonald, Exposed, 2021
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald "Choke Cherry 2" painting of cherry, skull and flowers, pink and red tones
    Megan Ellen MacDonald, Choke Cherry 2, 2021
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald "Choke Cherry 1" painting of cherry and skull surrounded by flowers,
    Megan Ellen MacDonald, Choke Cherry 1, 2021
Installation Views
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald installation view at Hashimoto Contemporary LA
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald installation view at Hashimoto Contemporary LA
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald installation view at Hashimoto Contemporary LA
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald installation view at Hashimoto Contemporary LA
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald installation view at Hashimoto Contemporary LA
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald installation view at Hashimoto Contemporary LA
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald installation view at Hashimoto Contemporary LA
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald installation view at Hashimoto Contemporary LA
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald installation view at Hashimoto Contemporary LA
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald installation view at Hashimoto Contemporary LA
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald installation view at Hashimoto Contemporary LA
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald installation view at Hashimoto Contemporary LA
  • Megan Ellen MacDonald installation view at Hashimoto Contemporary LA

Related artist

  • Megan Ellen MacDonald painting of fruits on branches with porcelain birds and snake

    Megan Ellen MacDonald

Back to Past exhibitions

New York City:

54 Ludlow St.

New York, NY 10002

San Francisco:

Minnesota Street Project

1275 Minnesota St. 

San Francisco, CA 94107

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