ABOUT RITA MCKEOUGH

Rita McKeough is an acclaimed performance and installation artist based in  Mohkinstsis/Calgary, where she is Associate Professor of Sculpture and Media Arts at the  Alberta University of the Arts. Since the 1970s, Rita has worked from feminist, queer, and  ecological concerns in artworks that incorporate audio, performance, electronics, and kinetic  objects. In 2009, McKeough was awarded the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media  Arts, and in 2006 was named Éminence Grise by the performance art festival 7a*11d. McKeough has a prolific record of exhibitions and residencies internationally. Publications  featuring McKeough’s work include Radio Rethink: Art Sound and Transmission (Banff Centre  for the Arts, 1994), Caught in the Act: An Anthology of Performance Art by Canadian  Women (YYZ Books, 2004), and the monograph Rita McKeough: Works (Emmedia, Truck Gallery  and MST performative art festival, 2018). McKeough is also an accomplished percussionist, and  has played in bands including The Permuters, Sit Com, Mode d’emploi, Demi Monde, Simian  Crease, Confidence Band, and Sleepy Panther. McKeough has held numerous Artist-in Residence positions, including at the Bemis Centre for Contemporary Art, the Rauschenberg  Residency, the Banff Centre, the Canadian Council for the Arts International Residency Program  in Sydney, Australia, and is the 2024 Queen’s University Vice-Principal Research Visiting Artist in-Residence. 

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Rita McKeough: Wave over Wave, November 4–13.  

Art + Media Lab, Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts 

Finissage November 13, 6:30pm 

An exhibition of McKeough’s art installation Wave over Wave (2000) will take place November  3–14 at the Art + Media Lab (AML) at the Isabel Bader Centre for Performing Arts. 

Wave over Wave consists of two dozen motorized drumsticks that play a rhythmic  accompaniment to a video projection and melodic audio tapes featuring three vocalists. The  artwork explores social histories of harbour communities, and serves as a memorial to migrants  who have died at sea. 

This exhibition is the result of conservation efforts supported by the Vulnerable Media Lab  (VML), and is made possible through the Postdoc Initiative Fund and the Agnes Etherington Art  Centre. Exhibition Assistant is Peggy Fussell. The exhibition is free and open to the public, with  guided tours available upon request. A Closing Reception will be held on the evening of  November 13.