A fresh look at what is going on in the world of Atlantic Canadian art.

Materiality and Perception in Contemporary Atlantic Art showcases over forty contemporary works of art from Atlantic Canada, from established artists such as Freeman Patterson, Gerald Beaulieu, Dawn MacNutt, and Alan Syliboy to emerging artists such as Emma Hassencahl-Perley, Ursula Johnson, and Marie Fox. This is art engaged with contemporary conversations: the frailty of bodies and land, the interactions between people and environment, Indigenous – Settler relations, and the inner and outer markings of identity.

Focusing intently on the materiality of the objects themselves — from jewellery to photographs, from carved paddles to video installations — the works selected for this publication and the associated exhibition ask viewers to look again, challenging their initial perceptions about what they see and what they perceive about the context in which the work is made.

Tom Smart’s accompanying essay introduces each work and its context and discusses the role of the viewer in interpreting art objects and creating meaning, whether viewing works as discrete individual objects or as part of the larger, holistic whole.

Materiality and Perception in Contemporary Atlantic Art accompanies the 2019 Marion McCain Exhibition of Atlantic Art at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery.

Tom Smart is the Executive Director and CEO of the McMichael Canadian Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario, and the President of the McMichael Canadian Art Foundation. For seven years he was Director of Collections and Exhibitions at the Frick Art & Historical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he developed an ambitious international exhibition program, and at the same time, he was appointed a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. He served as Acting Director of the Winnipeg Art Gallery from 1997 until 1999 and was Curator of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton from 1989 to 1997. Smart is the author of nine books and catalogues. His most recent book is the critically acclaimed Alex Colville: Return, which moved criticism of Colville's works to a new intellectual level. His 1995 book The Art of Mary Pratt: The Substance of Light won the Atlantic Provinces Booksellers Association Booksellers Choice Award, the Studio Magazine Award of Merit, and the Printing Industries of America Award of Merit. It was included in Great Canadian Books of the Century.

Tom Smart's profile page