RITA MCKEOUGH

BIO

Calgary based audio, media installation and performance artist Rita McKeough has exhibited extensively in Canada since 1977 and has presented her work internationally. She has taught at various art institutions throughout Canada and has been a drummer in various bands. McKeough insists that she has been fortunate to have the support and assistance of her friends and community to produce her work. Born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, McKeough studied printmaking and sculpture at the University of Calgary where she received her BFA. She went on to study at the NSCAD University where she was awarded her MFA in 1979. Rita McKeough wishes to thank the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and the Alberta College of Art + Design for their assistance.

STATEMENT

“The edge of the city is a mesh of tightly woven grids. Rows and rows of houses pile up one upon the other. There are stacks on stacks for miles. The boundary of the city is pushing outward and the grasslands are being consumed. Construction cranes are sprouting up like wildfire. Their seeds blow wildly across the landscape. They grow anywhere where the soil is rich and they are spreading out in all directions. They are hardy, resilient to disease and they are infiltrating the fields. The cranes bend and turn in the wind with a chaotic grinding rhythm. They grow quickly and once they are fully mature they begin their work. Lifting the grasses blade by blade they slowly and methodically open up the prairie. Rows and rows of houses pile up one upon the other. There are stacks on stacks for miles.”