Jason McLean
On The Road
Acrylic ink and acrylic paint on paper
30” x 22.5”
2024
About
Jason McLean (b. 1971) was born in London, ON. He studied art at the H.B. Beal Secondary School during his formative high school years. In 1997, McLean graduated from the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver with a BFA. The artist is currently living and working between Brooklyn, NY, and Canada. McLean is heavily influenced by the Fluxus movement, an artistic movement that championed experimentation and emphasized the process of making over the finished object. He also cites the Regional Art Movement, The Nihilist Spasm Band, The Hairy Who, Marc Bell, Mike Kelley, and Claes Oldenburg as sources of inspiration.
McLean is an imaginative artist who creates within a multitude of disciplines, though his artistic undertakings began in sculpture. The artist has a naivete about himself and his work. He has also worked with sound, bookmaking, zines, correspondence art, and curatorial explorations. He is most widely known for his mixed-media drawings and paintings. These works exhibit a tangled web of thoughts and ideas that take the viewer from place to place through the use of lines and bright, punchy colors. His experience as a creator is vast. He mixes media and pieces of his life, flawlessly leading the viewer into the realm of his own visual language and resulting in autobiographical work. As his life and quirky interests heavily influence what we see, there are traces of obsessive object collecting, mind-mapping from one idea to the next, and a slew of collaborative improvisational projects.
McLean has exhibited both nationally and internationally, including shows at The National Gallery of Canada, The Vancouver Art Gallery, Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa in Venice, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Loyal Gallery in Malmo Sweden, Richard Heller Gallery in Santa Monica, Franklin Parrish Gallery, and Zieher Smith Gallery in New York City. The artist also has work in a variety of major collections throughout North America, including the Museum of Modern Art, Vancouver Art Gallery, Bank of Montreal Collection, and the Royal Bank of Canada. McLean is represented by Michael Gibson Gallery in London, Canada,
and Monica Reyes Gallery, Vancouver, Canada.
Collections
MOMA New York
National Gallery of Canada
Vancouver Art Gallery
MOCA Toronto
Museum London
Fondazione Marino Golinelli
Soho House Group
Richard Ivey School of Business
Fasken Martineau LLP
TD Bank Collection
BMO Bank Collection
RBC Bank Collection
Hans Mayer Collection
Beth Rudin Dewoody Collection
Herb and Lenore Schorr Collection
Film:
Solo / Two Person Exhibitions 2023 “Transfer Station” Michael Gibson Gallery, London ON 2023 “Mind Mapping and Other Stories” Van Der Plas Gallery, New York NY 2023 “No Fric(k)tion” Van Der Plas Gallery, New York NY 2022 “Dad Club” Gallery Stratford, Stratford ON 2022 “Soap Box Pillow” Van Der Plas Gallery, New York NY 2021 “As Seen on TV” Van Der Plas Gallery, New York NY 2020 “Shoe Inn” Michael Gibson Gallery, London ON 2020 “If you see me, say hello” The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa ON 2019 “Something Up My Sleeve” Michael Gibson Gallery, London ON 2019 “Fibberti Gibbet” Van Der Plas Gallery, New York NY 2019 “Walkie Talkie” Monica Reyes Gallery, Vancouver BC 2018 “Boomerang Smile” Michael Gibson Gallery, London ON 2018 “Correspondence” Burnaby Art Gallery, Burnaby BC 2017 “Say Hi to the Sun” Glenhyrst Art Gallery of Brant, Brantford ON 2017 “Collaborative Drawings” Lazy Susan, New York NY 2016 “Parking Lot with a Memory” Michael Gibson Gallery, London ON 2016 “Wing Nite” Ed Varie Gallery, Los Angeles CA 2015 “Son of a Salesman” Michael Gibson Gallery, London ON 2015 “Lettuce Legs” Cinders Haus Club, Brooklyn NY 2015 “Soda Gardner” Wilding Cran Gallery, Los Angeles CA 2014 “Napkin Drawings” Curated by: Lee Henderson, Attache Gallery, Victoria BC 2014 “Rachel Jones Pop-Up Shop” Curated by: Allegra Laviola, New York NY 2013 “Sucrologist Schnauzer” Weird Things, Toronto ON 2012 “Here, Now” Jessica Bradley Gallery, Toronto ON 2012 “If you could read my mind” McIntosh Gallery, London ON 2011 “O-Pee-Chee Dirt Pile” Allegra LaViola Gallery, New York NY 2010 “in the corner there is light” Jessica Bradley Gallery, Toronto ON 2010 “Endlessly Traversed Landscapes” (Olympic Billboard Project), Vancouver BC 2009 “Zona Maco” Maco Art Fair, Mexico City, Mexico 2009 “Aunt Jeans Buns” La Viola Bank Gallery, New York NY 2009 “Goodnight Irene” Jessica Bradley Gallery, Toronto ON 2008 “Path of Wonder” Emergency Room, Vancouver BC 2007 “Uncle Porkchop” Perugi Art Contemporary, Padova, Italy 2007 Occasional Art, Saint Paul MN 2007 “2x4” Tracey Lawrence Gallery, Vancouver BC 2006 “Back in 5 Min” Tracey Lawrence Gallery, Vancouver BC 2006 “New Art, New Money” Croma Books, Vancouver BC 2006 “The Woodman” Curated by: Gareth Moore and Jake Gleason, The St. George Marsh, Vancouver BC 2005 “The Sky is Falling” Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver BC 2004 “Dr. Libby's Gold” Tracey Lawrence Gallery, Vancouver BC 2004 “Papa Grimsby” Richard Heller Gallery, Los Angeles CA 2003 “Big Tea Spoon” Luft Gallery, Toronto ON 2003 “L.O.” Forest City Gallery, London ON 2002 “Pennies in a Stream” Ministry of Casual Living, Victoria BC 2002 “Bathroom Drawings” Sugar Refinery, Vancouver BC 2002 “Path of Wonder” Forest Arts, Edinburgh, UK 2001 “Broken Leg Glen” Architecture Centre/ Dynamo Gallery, Vancouver BC 2001 “Path of Wonder” Blinding Light Cinema Gallery, Vancouver BC 2001 “Bell/McLean Workout” Tracey Lawrence Gallery, Vancouver BC 2000 “Volvo Rollbars” Lucky's, Vancouver BC 2000 “Hodge Podge” Moon Base Gallery, Vancouver BC 1999 “Sleepy Le Beef” Anodyne Contemporary, Vancouver BC 1999 “Pee on the Owl” Havana Gallery, Vancouver BC 1999 “Ja Ja Lip and Sons” Helen Pitt Gallery, Vancouver BC 1998 “Non-moving Pictures” Pacific Cinematheque, Vancouver BC 1996 “Eleemosynary” I.T.N. Theatre, New York NY 1995 “Ten to a Quarter After” La Luna Café, Vancouver BC 1994 “The Waffle” Gallery Sansair, Vancouver BC
CV:
Press:
Van Der Plas Gallery Offers a Topsy-Turvy Tour of Painter Jason McLean’s Mid-Life Mind
June 19th, 2024
Publications:
