While the English artist Edwin landseer created a romantic vision of the Scottish Highlands, the Scottish artist Rachel Maclean uses nostalgic stereotypes to explore how we picture ourselves.
Maclean (1987-) is one of the most poignantly satirical artists in Britain today. Using elaborate masks, grotesque prosthetics and flamboyant stage sets, his caustic and darkly comic films explore both collective and individual identities.
'Rachel Maclean: The Lion and The Unicorn' features the artist's 2012 film The Lion and The Unicorn, which irreverently illuminates the relationship between Scotland and England.
Commissioned by Edinburgh Printmakers ahead of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Maclean's film shows the heraldic servants of the Royal Coat of Arms, the English lion and the Scottish unicorn, battling over the future of the United Kingdom. Using found audio, including excerpts from the 1957 Christmas broadcast The Queen's, the artist presents national symbols against a backdrop of political conflict.
The film is accompanied by a selection of related prints from 2013 showing elaborate and intricate scenes conveying exaggerated and dramatic narratives. In his prints and elaborate filmmakers, Maclean draws on a vast repertoire of art-historical allusions, combining traditional iconography and pop culture references to create avant-garde satire.
'Rachel Maclean: The Lion and The Unicorn' is the first exhibition of the artist's work at the National Gallery. It follows his exhibition 'Over the Rainbow' which recently concluded its run at the National Gallery of Australia. Having exhibited extensively internationally, in 2017, Maclean was selected to represent Scotland + Venice at the Venice Biennale. His work won the prestigious Margaret Tait Award in 2013 and was presented at HOME (Manchester); Tate (London); MCA (Chicago); Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane (Dublin); Artpace (San Antonio, USA); The Talbot Rice Gallery (Edinburgh); the Royal Scottish Academy (Edinburgh), and as part of the British Art Show tour 8, 2015. he Also has, until December 16, an exhibition at the Zabludowicz Collection (London).
'Rachel Maclean: The Lion and The Unicorn' is part of the gallery's Contemporary program for 2018-19, which also includes the forthcoming exhibition Sea Star: Sean Scully at the National Gallery (Ground Floor Galleries 13 April – 11 August 2019). The newly enhanced contemporary program will extend the range of artists we work with through exhibitions and residencies.
From winter 2018 onwards, we look forward to welcoming visitors, artists and scholars to see modern and contemporary art and artists in dialogue with the collection, creating a forum where the art of the present and that of the past are continually explored.
Practicing artists have always had a central position at the National Gallery; the collection has provided a source of inspiration for artists around the world, from modern masters to acclaimed contemporaries. Contemporary artists who have collaborated with the National Gallery in the past include Tacita Dean, Chris Ofili, Bridget Riley, Ed Ruscha (whose recent 'Ed Ruscha: Course of Empire' was a response to Thomas Cole's series of paintings 'The Course of Empire” , exhibited simultaneously with the gallery exhibition “Thomas Cole: Eden to Empire”), George Shaw and Alison Watt.
Daniel Herrmann, Curator of Special Projects at the National Gallery and Curator of Rachel Maclean: The Lion and the Unicorn, says:
“When the National Gallery opened, two days a week were devoted to artists' practice. Since then, the Gallery has been at the center of a thriving community of visitors, critics and artists – a gallery filled with discussion, debate and delight. We are thrilled to continue this tradition with a new contemporary programme. Rachel Maclean is one of Scotland's most astute artists today, combining an adamant sense of satire with genuine talent and skill. We are thrilled to introduce Rachel Maclean's works to our contemporary audiences and to showcase our historic collection and exhibitions in dialogue with today's artists. ”
Exhibition supported by the Rootstein Hopkins Foundation
The Sunley Room exhibition program is supported by The Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation
