Image credit: courtesy of the artist
Residency period: July - September, 2025
Mara Eagle (b.1988) is a multimedia American artist based in Tiohtià:ke (Montréal). She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Marlboro College (Vermont) and a Master of Fine Arts from Concordia University (Montréal). In 2023 she was nominated for the Pierre-Ayot prize and exhibited in the MOMENTA Biennale as the 2020 Bronfman Fellow. She is represented by Pangée Gallery, and has exhibited at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, the Musée d’art de Joliette, Fondation Phi, and artist run centres across Canada. Her practice has been generously supported by the Canada Council, le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Berggruen Institute, the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Société et culture (FRQSC) and the Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Family Foundation.
Description: OF GODS, OF MONSTERS (detail), inkjet print on vinyl, 97’ x 8’, presented by the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal at Place Ville Marie, April - September 2024, Montréal, Quebec, Canada.
Image credit: courtesy of the artis
Project Description
I propose to create a mural to be distributed throughout the AGO. The (temporary) mural will consist of many parts installed in different locations of the building, creating a bread-crumb-like experience activating unused spaces of the AGO and offering a thread of continuity as visitors move between gallery and non-gallery spaces alike.
I will create the digital mural using 3D software, and print it onto vinyl adhesive that can be installed onto (and easily removed from) walls and glass surfaces— especially those not normally used for the display of art works, such as forgotten corners, bathrooms, windows, stairwells etc. Although this ‘distributed mural’ is not directly interactive, it functions in a way that rewards careful looking and proposes that aesthetic experience extends beyond the galleries. In the past, the exuberant nature of my work has been highly engaging for young audiences. The mural I create for the AGO will be invested with the same energy of mischief and play, whimsy and fantasy.
I am especially interested in creating a mural with a narrative drive that suggests a non- linear story unfolding throughout the AGO. In this vein, I am inspired by artists such as Kara Walker and William Kentridge, as well as others who engage a critical eye towards the history of European painting, such as Kent Monkman. During my residency, I will study and research the AGO’s collection and will develop a narrative/mural in tandem with my research.
