July 2, 2020
The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) at Maine College of Art & Design (MECA&D) is pleased to announce the opening of Some Things We Can Do Together: Megan and Murray McMillan to the public. Featuring a survey of works by two artists who have worked collaboratively for more than 15 years, Some Things We Can Do Together: Megan and Murray McMillan will be on view from July 8 - September 12, 2020 with a timed admission process.
The simple, timed admission system allows the ICA to welcome visitors to safely view the exhibition at the ICA at MECA&D during the Covid-19 pandemic. Visitors will be asked to comply with all social distancing recommendations, including wearing masks. Gallery staff will be monitoring attendance and regularly cleaning high-touch surfaces. Visitor numbers will be limited to seven at a time, during half-hour time slots. Please register for a free visit to the ICA here.
Megan and Murray McMillan make large scale installation and performance projects that result in short videos, new installations, and photographic series. Constructing complex, architectural sets that become stages for video and photography, the McMillans create works that offer a window into seemingly impossible situations. As J.R. Uretsky, curator of their work at the New Bedford Art Museum, notes, the work unfolds within an “architecture that is rarely fixed, but instead shifts, transforms, and even flies. Each of the video elements allude to a narrative that is out of grasp. The narratives, however, are felt. The videos stir up emotions; they are relatable without being didactic; they are strangely familiar — akin to déjà vu.”
For the ICA at Maine College of Art & Design, Megan and Murray McMillan have constructed an entirely new pavilion that reflects both the sculptural genesis of their works and the final video works in a series of installations throughout the galleries.
“We are absolutely delighted to welcome visitors back to the galleries and share the McMillans stunning work,” says Director of Exhibitions Julie Poitras Santos. “As we wrestle with solitude and meaning during this challenging time, art provides a means to reckon with our pasts and envision new futures. It offers solace and new possibilities.”
The McMillans seek to imaginatively situate the viewer inside metaphorical, visceral, fabricated environments — the coal bin of a decommissioned power plant or a small boat circling an island in the Gulf of Finland. Employing a varied lexicon of elements throughout their work – vessels of transport, theatrical stages, bridges, passageways, rooms – the McMillans create magical, transportive journeys.
The McMillans have exhibited large scale video installations at Mass MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts, the Kunsthallen Brandts Museum in Odense, Denmark, The State Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki, Greece, the RISD Museum in Rhode Island and deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts. Their work has been included in numerous group exhibitions, film festivals, and international biennials.
Some Things We Can Do Together: Megan and Murray McMillan, curated by J.R. Uretsky, was first exhibited at the New Bedford Art Museum/ArtWorks! in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
In conjunction with the exhibition, Some Things We Can Do Together: Megan and Murray McMillan, the ICA website offers information about the exhibition, including a narrated tour of the exhibition, a conversation with the artists, and a free online catalog supported in part by the Maine Humanities Council.
Image Folder: Some Things We Can Do Together: Megan and Murray McMillan - IMAGES
Header Image: Megan and Murray McMillan, What We Loved and Forgot, 2010 | Installation: ICA at MECA&D, March 2020 | Photography by Joel Tsui