KLEINBURG.- The McMichael opened John Scott: Firestorm, a powerful and timely retrospective of the work of the late Canadian artist John Scott (1950–2022) that foregrounds his lifelong examination of cycles of conflict, retaliation and resilience, and the complexities of human experience.
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Spanning four decades of work, Firestorm features paintings, drawings, and sculptures that reveal Scott’s preoccupation with violence, surveillance, and the omnipresent threat of nuclear conflict. Known for his bold and provocative imagery, Scott’s work critiques tyrannical power while expressing deep empathy for human vulnerability. “John Scott was one of the most visionary and prescient artists of his day,” says Sarah Milroy, Executive Director and Chief Curator. “He was able to identify aspects of society — militarism, a collective obsession with violence — with searing clarity, expressing his ideas with indelible force. His drawings shake us to our foundations, and they have never been more relevant. Ultimately this exhibition offers a soulful take on the human condition.”
Firestorm is the first major retrospective to focus on Scott’s potent imagery of machines and the modern world’s capacity for industrial war—a body of work as meaningful today as when it first appeared in the 1970s. Growing up along the Canada-U.S. border in Windsor, Ontario, during the height of the Cold War, Scott’s perspective was shaped by an acute awareness of socio-political tensions. Through his signature imagery of stealth bombers, firearms, and tanks—what he called “engines of history”— Scott challenges viewers to confront the stark dichotomy between the destructive force of modern weaponry and the fragility of human life.
Working in the tradition of Francisco Goya, Käthe Kollwitz and Nancy Spero, Scott’s work bears raw, sculptural gestures and bold mark-making. His aesthetic—urgent, dark, and unflinching—resonates with contemporaries such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and William Kentridge.
Guest-curated by Dr. John O’Brian, Firestorm positions Scott’s legacy within an international context, underscoring his impact as one of Canada’s most distinctive artistic voices.
The exhibition is accompanied by a scholarly catalogue with new essays by John O’Brian, Richard Hill, and Robert Jacobs, edited by Sarah Milroy. Published by Figure 1 Publishing, the catalogue features more than 100 works and a comprehensive biography.
John O’Brian is Professor Emeritus of Art History at UBC where he taught from 1987 to 2017. He holds a PhD in Art History from Harvard University and has authored or edited more than 20 books.
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