![\"\"](\"https:\/\/xeno-optic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/IMG-2835-1-269x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Viewpoint: The Art of Grant McConnell<\/strong><\/p>\n C$40.00 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n 104 pages, full colour, 9 x 10 in.<\/strong><\/p>\n ISBN: 978-1-927054-56-7 <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Saskatoon-based artist Grant McConnell studied at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, and at the University of Saskatchewan where he received an MFA. He is known primarily for his varied studio practice derived from an ongoing investigation of things social, historical, and political. He teaches studio and art history courses at St. Peter\u2019s College in Muenster and at the University of Saskatchewan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This new monograph exploring McConnell\u2019s artistic practice features over sixty full colour reproductions of his mixed media drawings and acrylic paintings that explore themes arising from social inequity, history, and political power. The series <\/span>Finer Things: A Theory of the Leisure Class<\/span><\/i> is a mordant visual satire targeting the indulgences of the ultra-rich; <\/span>Velasquez Variations<\/span><\/i> muses on figures inspired by those of Diego Valasquez\u2019s <\/span>Las Meninas<\/span><\/i>; and <\/span>Powerhouse<\/span><\/i> depicts official buildings such as houses parliament, but subverts their status by adding whimsical, surreal, or cartoonish elements.<\/span><\/p>\n The book includes a foreword by Governor General\u2019s Literary Award winner Guy Vanderhaeghe, an essay by curator Jesse Campbell, and a full-length interview with the artist conducted by St. Thomas University fine art students.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI happen to think that all the best art is charged with the kind of contradiction,\u00a0<\/span>complexity, and mystery which infuse Grant\u2019s paintings. This is work that resists labels and the smudgy fingerprints of facile critical theory, a resistance that speaks to its importance.\u201d \u2013Guy Vanderhaeghe<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Viewpoint: The Art of Grant McConnell C$40.00 2023 104 pages, full colour, 9 x 10 in. ISBN: 978-1-927054-56-7 Saskatoon-based artist Grant McConnell studied at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, and at the University of Saskatchewan where he received an MFA. He is known primarily for his varied studio practice derived from… <\/p>\n