Scott McFarland Snow, Shacks, Streets, Shrubs

Scott McFarland works at the point of transition between analog and digital technologies. Where analog photography is often discussed as a representation of a decisive moment, McFarland’s photographs are constructed from many images, taken at different times and under different conditions. The resulting composite images render familiar places and subjects visually complex through repetition and assemblage. Featuring more than 40 works, Snow, Shacks, Streets, Shrubs presents the artist’s sustained consideration of the history of photography and the sophisticated technical changes that the medium has undergone. McFarland's work depicts recognizable urban and rural settings, placing a focus on the markers of national and cultural identity through spaces of tourism, leisure and commemoration. 

Organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario

Curated by Kitty Scott

Scott McFarland lives and works in Toronto, Canada. His works are included in public collections such as the MoMA, J. Paul Getty Museum, National Gallery of Canada, SFMoMA, Walker Art Center, and Victoria & Albert Museum. Major surveys were presented at the National Gallery of Canada (2009) and Vancouver Art Gallery (2009). In 2014 the Art Gallery of Ontario exhibited McFarland’s solo exhibition Snow, Shacks, Streets, Shrubs. More recently his series Lens Cleaning was included in David Campany’s touring exhibition A Handful of Dust (2019–21).