Artists in Conversation | Rachel Maclean
Conversation
May 17, 2024
Rachel Maclean will talk to Stuart Comer, Lonti Ebers Chief Curator of Media and Performance, Museum of Modern Art, about her artistic practice, recent projects, and studio processes.
About Rachel Maclean
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1987, Rachel Maclean received her BA in drawing and painting from Edinburgh College of Art in 2009. She also studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 2008. Maclean has spent the last decade showcasing her groundbreaking work in galleries, film festivals, and museums and on television. Working across a variety of media, including digital print, painting, video, and virtual reality, she makes complex and layered works that reference celebrity culture, fairy tales, and politics. Until recently, Maclean took on the character roles in her elaborate films, wearing colorful costumes and makeup. Her work can be both captivating and disturbing, with unsettling narratives and themes.
Maclean has shown her work widely, both in the United Kingdom and internationally, receiving critical acclaim both for her film and visual art. Her major exhibitions include solo shows at Tate Britain and the National Gallery, London; Arsenal Contemporary, New York; Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Germany; KWM Artcenter, Beijing; and the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Maclean represented Scotland at the 2017 Venice Biennale with her film commission Spite Your Face. She is the 2014 recipient of the prestigious Margaret Tait Award for her contribution to the Glasgow Film Festival. She was shortlisted for the Film London Jarman Award in 2013 and 2015. She lives and works in Glasgow.