I turn now to my own line, perhaps the only one among THE MACCORMICKS with a professional artist/painter. My cousin, Neil, son of Iain and Nan and grandson of NEIL LAMONT AND CLEMENTINE MACCORMICK, has made painting his life work. I recall many years ago while visiting Uncle Iain and Aunt Nan in Toronto, Neil being persuaded to show us his works of that early period. They were very accomplished and attractive (forgive my unprofessional critic’s vocabulary). He has carried forward a talent which was displayed by both his father and mine. I believe that its source may been through Granny MacCormick’s mother – the Grant family. . In any event, his parents must be given great credit for encouraging and supporting his growth as an artist. As you will read below, Neil is entirely self-taught – no art school can claim him as their product.
BORN 1958, Toronto, Ontario
RESIDES Toronto, Ontario EDUCATION No formal art education |
In 1993 I began using photos as source imagery for my paintings to apply a level of objectivity to an inherently subjective process. By adhering strictly to the information presented in a photograph, by restricting my palette (two reds, two blues, yellow and black), the size of the paintings (5.5 X 8″) and by using a single brush (an inexpensive #6 gold sable) I further eliminated many subjective decisions from my process. I’ve spent decades sporadically roaming city streets with my camera, subconsciously searching for subjects that reflected my core feelings of invisibility. Whether trailers, decrepit neon signs or derelict commercial buildings, each had attained the kind of invisibility within its surroundings that often heralds transformation, renovation or destruction. I’m interested in the existential question of being: If it’s ‘invisible’ to everyone, does it exist? I’ve begun to see my rigorous, rigid painting process as ‘performance ritual’. Monday to Friday I work at an old office desk from 9 am to 5 pm. I begin the day by removing the paints from a drawer on my left and placing them on the desk. I remove the painting from a box behind my desk. At noon I break for lunch and record my morning’s hours on an index card or ‘time sheet’ that I keep in a drawer on my right. At 12:30 pm I resume working until 5 pm when I record the afternoon’s hours on the sheet. This ritual is an integral part of my practice and a necessary element in the production of a much fetishised image on board: the average 5.5 X 8″ painting requiring up to 300 hours or more to complete. Through the restrictions I’ve imposed on my process, I’ve acheived a level of detachment from my subject and the physical object of the completed painting but I realise that in my attempts to eliminate the identifiable marks and gestures I made as an artist, I’ve somehow run headlong into myself through my work. Neil MacCormick January, 2013 |
![]() RESIDES Toronto, Ontario EDUCATION No formal art education |
SOLO EXHIBITIONS2012 Winchester Galleries Modern, Victoria, B.C. GROUP EXHIBITIONS2016 Size Matters, Bernarducci Meisel Gallery, New York, N.Y. BIBLIOGRAPHYCatalogues Newspapers Television Radio AWARDS / HONOURSCanada Council for the Arts, Visual Arts Section, Creation / Production Grant, 2004. COLLECTIONSA. J. Diamond Associates, Toronto, ON |