MAC update
In line with the spirit of the public health update and associated restrictions announced by the NI Executive, the MAC is now closed until Saturday 14 November.
Dougal McKenzie:
A Dream and
an Argument
A Dream and an Argument represents a major new body of work by Edinburgh-born, Belfast based artist Dougal McKenzie. It brings together key elements of McKenzie’s practice: an interest in history and storytelling through images, and an investigation into whether it is possible to represent these as ‘memory’ in painting.
| Date: | 30 Jun 2017 - 8 Oct 2017 |
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| Time: | 10am - 7pm, 7 days a week |
| Space: | Upper Gallery |
| Price: | Free admission |
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Details
The title of the exhibition is taken from a chapter in Allan Massie’s ‘The Ragged Lion’: a partly fictional, partly factual account of the Scottish historical novelist, playwright and poet, Sir Walter Scott’s life. Like the book, McKenzie’s work weaves together fact and fiction, melding objective history with subjective narrative.
“Being ‘home’ in Edinburgh last summer, I realised that having neglected it for so long, a number of things were prompting me to address a directly autobiographical sort of history; some of it personal, some of it more lightly connected. Walking around the city, re-reading Walter Scott’s ‘The Heart of Mid-Lothian’, reflecting on the Porteous Riots that took place on the High Street in 1736, and visiting St. Margaret’s Loch with my father, who recalled it as a boating pond. Remembering also that he had been part of student riots at Edinburgh University’s Quad (which, I had noticed, was a location for parts of the James Mason film ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’). I captured an image of my young son running around the same Quad and imagined that he too was moving through history. These narratives and reflections coalesced and consolidated very firmly as subjects for paintings.” Dougal McKenzie
For McKenzie, the title of the exhibition aptly describes his personal understanding of painting and also the way in which memory seems to act as we reflect on things: A Dream and an Argument.
Artist Edition
There is a limited edition lithograph print by Dougal McKenzie available to purchase from our MAC shop. Visit this page for more information.
Audio guide
Get more out of your visit to the MAC by purchasing an exhibition audio guide, specially produced by our Curators. Priced at just £3, the guide takes you on a tour of our three current exhibitions, giving unique insight into the artists and works on display. The guide can be purchased from our Box Office on arrival and downloaded directly onto your phone.
The artist wishes to acknowledge the support of the Research Institute for Art and Design at Ulster University.
Image credit: Eremite, oil on linen, 2016/17 185.5cm x 151.5cm
About the Artist
Dougal McKenzie
Dougal McKenzie was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1968. He studied Painting and Drawing at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen, Scotland from 1986-90 and on the M.A. Fine Art Course at the University of Ulster at Belfast, Northern Ireland from 1990-91. He lives and works in Northern Ireland.
Your Visit
The safety of our visitors and staff is a top priority, so to help us manage the number of people in the MAC at any one time, we are asking you to pre-book your gallery visit.
Booking your gallery visit
Click the Book Now button to begin the booking process, and select the date and time you wish to visit this exhibition. These are listed as 30 min slots, and you can arrive at the MAC anytime within that 30min time slot. Next tell us how many will be attending – our exhibitions are free to visit, but you can choose to add a donation to your booking. At this difficult time, we are more grateful than ever for those who give financially towards our work – your donations truly make a difference.
To complete your booking, we’ll ask you for some personal details including a contact telephone number for Track and Trace purposes. Once your booking is confirmed, we will send you a confirmation email, and the day before your visit, we’ll also send an email with some helpful information for your visit.
On the day of your visit
We have introduced a one-way system at the MAC, as part of our efforts to keep you safe. On arrival, please enter via the door from Exchange Street West. You will be met by a member of staff, or you may have to queue for a few moments.
Please show your e-ticket or print at home ticket, and our staff will check you in and share some further information with you about your visit.
For more information to help prepare you for a visit to the MAC, check out our Keeping You Safe page. There you’ll find a customer journey video, showing you how your visit might look, and answers to our frequently asked questions.
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