CORNER BROOK.- Grenfell Art Gallery is presenting in partnership with Identify: A Celebration of Indigenous Arts and Culture and Eastern Edge Artist-Run Centre the exhibition Visiting: Logan MacDonald.
Connecting body and land as both sites of colonization and resilience in queer and Indigenous people, Visiting by Logan MacDonald thoughtfully reflects and unpacks indigenous/settler identity, pan-indigenous cross-cultural exchange, and cultural revival through photography, installation, and drawing. MacDonald looks at manipulated landscapes, earthworks, structures, and signage established by Indigenous communities as a means to assert property against government and/or corporate encroachment, and reflects on the dynamics of community and belonging while negotiating access, viewership, and intimacy. Exhibition curator Emily Critch says “It’s been an amazing experience sharing ideas and working with Logan to bring this body of work home to Ktaqamkuk. This is an incredibly thoughtful show to have in Corner Brook given previous and ongoing provincial events. I think this exhibition will resonate with many people and generate conversations about ideas of home, the diversity of individual experiences with Indigenieity, and the resilience and endurance that queer and Indigenous communities demonstrate every day.”
Logan MacDonald is a queer visual artist and curator from Ktaqamkuk (Newfoundland). He identifies as a settler with European/Mi’kmaq ancestry. Logan is part of a unique, yet growing community of settler identifying, newly federally-acknowledged Mi’kmaq’s from Newfoundland who are looking at ways to revive their Mi’kmaq culture. MacDonald holds an MFA from York University (2010) and a BFA from Concordia University (2006). His artwork has exhibited in galleries worldwide and has been featured in publications that include C Magazine, LTTR, and Documenta 12.
Identify aims to create space for Indigenous voices and expression, bringing together Indigenous arts and culture professionals from the theatre, film, literature, visual, culinary and textile art communities of Newfoundland and Labrador while giving time and space to reinforce their history and current experience. Identify will share and showcase the traditional and contemporary artistic and cultural practices of the Mi’kmaq people of Newfoundland and Labrador as well as the Inuit, Innu, Southern Inuit of Nunatukavut, and Beothuk. This project provides a platform for Indigenous-led conversations on self-identity, self-rediscovery and celebration of Indigenous culture.
