McMichael Canadian Art Gallery - Margaux Williamson

November 2021 - Toronto ON

Click here for the first part of our visit to the McMichael Canadian Art Gallery.

I am not a huge fan of The Group of Seven although I respect their part in Canadian art, I did love this exhibit, it was so alive and vibrant.

While women artists of the early twentieth century were known for depicting interior spaces as places of privacy and domestic quietude, Toronto artist Margaux Williamson’s (b. 1976) interiors reveal spaces of creativity, subjectivity, and a kind of anarchic experimentation. Williamson has a distinctive way of understanding and depicting space and a woman’s place within it, exploring the studio, the home and the bar as a subject matter, as well as the interior spaces of subjectivity.

Margaux Williamson (born in 1976) is a Canadian painter, filmmaker, and writer based out of Toronto. Williamson's paintings can be understood as “a philosophical investigation of the landscape around her, as well as dedicated rigour and formal exploration into the development and possibilities of painting as a medium". Through her work she has created a highly personal visual language which she uses to explore themes of subjecthood, storytelling, life, death, aging and tension. Although dealing with dark and heavy themes, Williamson's works are ultimately hopeful, exploring the possibility of light in darkness. Williamson's works are often intertextual with her references ranging from popular culture to objects she finds lying around her studio.

PILLOWS

CUP

KITCHEN

BATHTUB

BLACK AND WHITE FLOWERS

AT THE FEDERAL

LIVING ROOM

BED

FIRE

WE CLIMBED INTO A HOLE IN THE WALL

GARLIC

BRANCHES

DESK

TABLE AND CHAIR