Rita McKeough (born 1951) is a Canadian interdisciplinary artist, musician and educator who frequently works in installation and performance.

Training and career

McKeough was born in 1951 in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. McKeough completed her BFA at the

University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...

in 1975 and her MFA at the

Nova Scotia College of Art and Design NSCAD University, also known as the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD), is a public university, public art school, art university in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university is a co-educational institution tha ...

in 1979. She currently teaches at

Alberta University of the Arts The Alberta University of the Arts (AUArts) is a public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a differen ...

and resides in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Work

McKeough's practice uses a variety of analog, electronic and digital technology to create performance, media and sound works. Her pieces engage with feminist narratives, often using objects to perform sound. McKeough has stated the imperative for taking action and fostering a situation for activating agency through her practice: "In my work, it’s not about speaking for anybody, but wanting to create or imagine situations or a society where everyone has a voice and speaks from his or her own position." Much of her work is a call for action by creating a space for introspection, curiosity, humour and awareness. McKeough brings to attention a spectrum of social issues, including the oil industry and its impact on the ecosystem, meat production, human-animal relations, violence against women, and silenced female voices within private and public institutions.

Selected Artworks

Veins, 2016

''Veins'' is an immersive installation first presented at TRUCK Contemporary Art in Calgary, Alberta in 2016. ''Veins'' follows and builds on issues explored in her most recent works, ''Wilderment'', ''Alternator'', ''The Lion’s Share'' and H. This work is motivated by McKeough's sense of unease as it relates specifically to the ongoing planning and construction of the oil and gas pipelines being built across a fragile and vulnerable landscape.

H, 2014

"H" was a performance that took place in an old barber shop in

Sackville, New Brunswick Sackville is a former town in southeastern New Brunswick, Canada. It held town status prior to 2023 and is now part of the town of Tantramar, New Brunswick, Tantramar. Sackville is home to Mount Allison University, a primarily undergraduate libe ...

, from July 24 to August 2, 2014. Residents of Sackville were requested to bring their "sick" (i.e., outdated) cell phones to the temporary emergency hospital set up in the barber shop, where, in tiny hospital beds, they were attended by a larger-than-life squirrel and a tree that used a variety of techniques to help the cell phones recover. The public could visit recovering cell phones or simply watch the process.

The Lion's Share, 2012

University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, 2012; Doris McCarthy Art Gallery, Scarborough, Ontario; Dalhousie Art Gallery, Halifax, 2013, Kenderdine Art Gallery at

University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

, 2014 and Illingworth Kerr Gallery at Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary, 2014.

Wilderment, 2010

Art Gallery of Alberta, Timeland: Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art, 2010; Neutral Ground, Solo Exhibition, May, 2013

Alternator, 2008-2012

2008, Nuit Blanche, Toronto; 2009, ArtCity Festival, Calgary; 2009, Art in the Streets Festival, Lethbridge; 2012, Oh Canada! Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, Boston.

In bocca al lupo—In the mouth of the wolf, 1991–92

Inspired by French feminist writers

Hélène Cixous Hélène Cixous (; ; born 5 June 1937) is a French writer, playwright and Literary criticism, literary critic. During her academic career, she was primarily associated with the Centre universitaire de Vincennes (today's University of Paris VIII) ...

and

Luce Irigaray Luce Irigaray (; born 3 May 1930) is a Belgian-born French feminist, philosopher, linguist, psycholinguist, psychoanalyst, and cultural theorist who examines the uses and misuses of language in relation to women. Irigaray's first and most ...

and the punk icon

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...

, McKeough created a ninety-minute operatic performance/installation with a six-piece choir, two solo vocalists, three musicians, six dancers, a prerecorded audio tape and slide and video projections. The audience and performers were engulfed by a large wooden figure. The work was created to foster a collective, tangible voice to women's anger.

Take it to the Teeth, 1993

This work, created with her collaborator Cheryl L'Hirondelle, was an installation and performance at the

Glenbow Museum The Glenbow Museum is an art and history local museum, regional museum in the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The museum focuses on Western Canada, Western Canadian history and culture, including Indigenous perspectives. The Glenbow was establ ...

in 1993. Here McKeough and L'Hirondelle literally chewed through the museum walls to expose eight concealed audio tapes. The work poignantly created a dynamic between domestic abuse and empowered the female agency that recovers silenced voice.

Collections

McKeough's work is included in many public and private collections including the

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It is Canada's public arts funder, with a mandate to ...

Art Bank, Ottawa;

, Calgary; Walter Phillips Gallery at The Banff Centre; University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge; and the Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina.

Music/bands

McKeough is also a musician. She has played drums/percussion for a number of bands including Sleepy Panther, The Permuters, Sit Com, Mode d'Emploi, Almost Even, Demi Monde, Confidence Band, and Books All Over the Bed.

Awards

McKeough was the winner of a 2009 Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts, and in 2006 was named Éminence Grise by the performance art festival 7a*11d. She has held numerous Artist-in-Residence positions, including at the Bemis Centre for Contemporary Art, the Rauschenberg Residency, the Banff Centre, and the 2014 Canada Council for the Arts International Residency at Artspace Sydney in Australia.

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * *Sherlock, Diana (ed.) (2018). ''Rita McKeough: Works.'' Calgary: EMMEDIA Gallery & Production Society, M:ST Performative Art Festival, TRUCK Contemporary Art in Calgary.

Notes

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKeough, Rita 1951 births Living people Interdisciplinary artists Artists from Nova Scotia People from Antigonish, Nova Scotia Canadian conceptual artists Canadian women conceptual artists Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts winners University of Calgary alumni NSCAD University alumni 21st-century Canadian women artists