Mahon, Patrick; Anne Brydon; Suzanne Luke; Carol Podedworny; Jennifer Gibson; Robert Enright — Patrick Mahon: Water Structures: Printed Sculptural Works, 2012 - 2014

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada McMaster Museum of Art | Robert Langen Art Gallery | University of Winnipeg First Edition, First Printing pp. 60. Slim 4to., measuring 27 cm tall. Pictorial covers. Many black-and-white, and (chiefly) colour photographs, illustrations, facsimiles, etc. Bright, clean, and unmarked; fine. Patrick Mahon is noted for his print-based projects that engage with historical and contemporary aspects of printmaking and establish community-based art initiatives, including several regarding the environment. This publication features three major exhibitions held at various locations across the country. Together they provide an excellent overview of the artist's practice. With Voyageur, Mahon juxtaposes his graphic/wall sculptures with prints by Dürer, Hogarth and by contemporary artists to examine the critical role of visual art in moral teaching in the West. Water Memory Table is a freestanding lattice that floats at table height on nearly invisible steel legs. Based on a map of the devastating 1950 Winnipeg flood, the grid suggests the survey lines that section land into farms, and the utility networks that provide heat, power, water and information; humans build the grids, and nature washes them away. Water and Tower Allegory presents silhouettes of utilitarian structures such as towers and platforms, partially inspired by the industrial sites documented in the spartan images of German photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher. Patrick Mahon has exhibited widely throughout the country as well as internationally, most recently at La Maison patrimonale de Barthète, France (2011). Original essays and an interview with the artist explore the many facets of a singular artistic career. Published with The Robert Langen Art Gallery (Wilfrid Laurier University). Exhibition: Robert Langen Art Gallery (Wilfrid Laurier University), Waterloo, Canada (Oct. 30-Dec. 7, 2013) / McMaster Museum of Art, Hamilton, Canada (Aug. 27, 2013-Jan. 25, 2014) / Gallery 1C03 (University of Winnipeg), Winnipeg, Canada (Jan. 16-Feb. 15, 2014.