Joe McKay

​

October 21–November 20, 2010

​

Opening Reception:
Opening reception, Thursday, October 21, 5-8pm

​

Pari Nadimi Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition of new work by New York based Canadian interdisciplinary artist Joe Mckay. 

​

Mckay uses several mediums in his practice including; web based artworks, photo, video, sculpture, games and performance.  His work seeks to question our current relationship with technology, he does this with a playful sense of humor and a deep understanding of how pervasively the technology cuts through our society. 

​

In “The Big Job” Mckay has recreated a virtual progress bar and made it physical. The bar is controlled by an arduino microcontroller which randomized its movements so there is no way of knowing how long it will take to reach the end. When it does, a bell rings, then the bar rewinds and begins anew.  “UFO no. 1 -7” is a series of c-print photographs of UFOs taken in and around the Bay Area in California. Unlike most UFO photographs, Mckay’s are not blurry, and the images were taken during broad daylight. [spoiler] McKay uses Photoshop to erase light poles, leaving the light fixture hanging in the sky and “revealing” UFO’s that are already in place. 

​

In the Streetview images McKay has reassembled the van that shoots the Google Street images by grabbing screen shots of the van reflected in store windows and Photoshopping the vehicle back together. Include in the show there are three photos from this body of work and a short looping video. “Falling from Segway” are a series of animations rotoscoped from youtube videos of people falling off Segway scooters. These animations lop on a digital picture frame. 

​

Joe Mckay received his MFA from UC Berkeley (2007), participated in Whitney Independent Study (2000 – 2001) and received his BFA from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (1993).  Mckay’s work featured in solo exhibitions at BigTime, Berkeley Art Museum (2010), Loss of Signal VertexList (Brooklyn, New York) (2007 & 2004), The Electric Donut, (with Kristin Lucas), New Museum of Contemporary Art, Media Z Lounge, New York, (2001).  His work also featured in a number of group exhibitions including the future is not what it used to be, Postmasters Gallery, New York, (2009), , Aesthetics of Gaming, PACE University, New York (2009), Schematic: New Media Art from Canada, Space, London, England, (2008), RESET/PLAY, Arthouse, Austin Texas (2008), TRY AGAIN, La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain, (2008), Off the Grid, Neuberger Museum of Art Deadpan III, The Lab, performance, San 
Francisco,US (2008).  Mckay’s exhibitions have been reviewed by Ashley, Chris “introducing…”, NYFA Interactive (nyfa.org) 2006, Cotter, Holland “Sampling Brooklyn, Keeper of Eclectic Flames”, New York Times, Jan 23, 2004, “Goings on About Town”, New Yorker, July 7th 2003.

​

For more information about Joe Mckay or the gallery, please visit our website
http://www.parinadimigallery.com or contact the gallery at info@parinadimigallery.com 254 Niagara St. (Toronto, Canada) or 416-591-6464.