Staff Profile

Introduction

I make satirical video art and film that comments on the troubling and frequently absurd nature of contemporary existence. Working largely in green-screen, I restage myths and fairytales in hyper-saturated near futures, touching on issues of national identity, class and gender. On the surface, my work can appear saccharine and inviting, however, this belies a darker, more unsettling interior.

Background

I studied drawing and painting at Edinburgh College of Art, Scotland. In 2008, I attended The School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, USA. Over the past 10 years, my films have been shown widely in the UK, and internationally, in galleries, museums, film festivals and on television.

I have presented in major solo shows at Tate Britain, National Gallery, London; Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Germany; Arsenal Contemporary, New York; Tel Aviv Museum of Art; Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh; Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; Artpace San Antonio, Texas; and HOME, Manchester. In 2017, I represented Scotland at the Venice Biennale, with the film Spite Your Face.

I won the prestigious Margaret Tait Award in 2013, for which I was commissioned to make the film A Whole New World. I have been shortlisted for the Jarman Award, and received critical praise for the film Feed Me at British Art Show 8 in 2016. In 2019, my most recent film, Make Me Up premiered at London Film Festival and went on to screen at international film festivals, including Rotterdam and Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival in Turkey, where it won the International Federation of Film Critics award.

Some of my previous TV commissions include Random Acts, Channel 4 (2013 and 2016); Billy Connolly: Portrait of a Lifetime, BBC Scotland (2017); The Shopping Centre: Artist in Residence, Channel 4 (2018); and Make Me Up, BBC (2018).

Solo exhibitions

2020                Rachel Maclean, Solo exhibition at Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Germany

2019               Spite Your Face, Solo exhibition at Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel

2019                Native Animals, Solo exhibition at Arsenal Contemporary NYC, USA

2019                Tales of Disunion, Solo exhibition at Nassauischer Kunstverein, Wiesbaden, Germany

2019                Make Me Up, Solo exhibition at Kunsthalle Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland

2018                Please, Sir…, Solo exhibition at Gus Fisher Gallery, University of Auckland, New Zealand

2018/19          The Lion and The Unicorn, The National Gallery, London, England

2018/19          Rachel Maclean: Solo Exhibition, KWM Arts Centre, Beijing, China

2018                Spite Your Face, Rachel Maclean, Chapter Gallery, Cardiff, Wales

2018                Rachel Maclean: Solo Exhibition, Zabludowicz Collection, London, England

2018                Just B Yourself, Rachel Maclean, Dublin City Art Gallery, Dublin

2018                New Worlds, State of Concept, Athens, Greece

2018                Rachel Maclean: Solo Exhibition. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

2018                Rachel Maclean: Solo Exhibition. Château de Servières, Marseilles, France

2018                Rachel Maclean: Solo Exhibition, Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland

2017                Spite Your Face, Scotland Venice, Representing Scotland at the Venice Biennale

2016/17          Wot u :-) about?  Art Now, Tate Britain, London, England

2016                Wot u :-) about? HOME, Manchester, England

2016                We Want Data! Artpace, San Antonio, Texas, USA

2015                Ok, You’ve Had Your Fun! Casino Luxembourg, Luxembourg

2015                The cold never bothered me anyway!  20-21 Visual Arts Centre, Scunthorpe

2015                Let it go!  Inverness Art Gallery, Scotland

2014                Please, Sir…, Rowing, London, England

2014                The Weepers, Comar, Tobermory, Isle of Mull, Scotland

2014                ‘Happy and Glorious’, Centre for Contemporary Art, Glasgow, Scotland, as part of Generation: 25 Years of Contemporary in Scotland

2014                Invites, Zabludowicz Collection, London, England

2014                ‘I HEART SCOTLAND’, The Travelling Gallery, Various locations around Scotland

2013                Quick Child, Run!  Trade Gallery, Nottingham, England

2013                I HEART SCOTLAND, The Edinburgh Printmakers as part of The Edinburgh Art Festival, Scotland

2013                Over The Rainbow, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland

2012                Lolcats, Solo show at Generator Projects, Dundee, Scotland

2012                The Lion and The Unicorn, Current Projects, Brisbane, Australia

I am currently a NUAcT Fellow.

Research interests

My current research is titled ‘Surface Gloss and Inner Rot’, and looks at how contemporary consumer capitalism privileges surface over substance, working with new technologies and techniques, including deepfake video, VR and AR. 

Current work and ongoing projects

• Fake Blondes – a deepfake and XR project which I will be developing over the course of the next 2 years.
• MIMI – a permanent outdoor video installation sculpture, commissioned by Jupiter Artland, Edinburgh, 2021.
• Melted – film treatment, selected for Attagurl Film Lab with producer Ohna Falby at Life To Live Films Ltd, which I will be developing over the course of the next year.