Rachel Maclean

Rachel Maclean (b. 1987, Edinburgh, Scotland) creates video and installations that operate deep in rendered space and at the vanguard of modern life. In an unmistakeable saccharine palette, Maclean's characters and settings refract and anticipate contemporary culture, whipping from the cutting to the cute, reflecting both the latent neurosis and bracing potential of life as a digital native.

Rachel Maclean lives and works in Glasgow.

Education

2009
BA Honours Drawing and Painting, Edinburgh College of Art, Scotland, UK

2008
School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, USA

Solo Exhibitions

2024
Mama Mimi Duck, Kunsthalle Giessen, Germany

2023
If it looks like a duck…, Solo Exhibition at Kunstpalais Erlangen, Germany

2022
Don’t buy Mi, temporary installation, Perth High Street, Scotland

2021
That's not Mi!, Josh Lilley, London
i’m 2 happy!, Solo exhibition at Galerie Kandlhofer, Vienna
upside mimi ᴉɯᴉɯ uʍop, permanent outdoor commission and solo exhibition at Jupiter Artland, Edinburgh, Scotland

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

2019
Spite Your Face, Solo exhibition at Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel
Native Animals, Solo exhibition at Arsenal Contemporary NYC, USA
Tales of Disunion, Solo exhibition at Nassauischer Kunstverein, Wiesbaden, Germany
Make Me Up, Solo exhibition at Kunsthalle Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland

2018
Please, Sir…, Solo exhibition at Gus Fisher Gallery, University of Auckland, New Zealand
The Lion and The Unicorn, The National Gallery, London, England
Rachel Maclean: Solo Exhibition, KWM Arts Centre, Beijing, China
Spite Your Face, Rachel Maclean, Chapter Gallery, Cardiff, Wales
Rachel Maclean: Solo Exhibition, Zabludowicz Collection, London, England
Just B Yourself, Rachel Maclean, Dublin City Art Gallery, Dublin
New Worlds, State of Concept, Athens, Greece
Rachel Maclean: Solo Exhibition. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Rachel Maclean: Solo Exhibition. Château de Servières, Marseilles, France
Rachel Maclean: Solo Exhibition, Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland

2017
Spite Your Face, Scotland + Venice, Representing Scotland at the Venice Biennale
Wot u :-) about? Art Now, Tate Britain, London, England

2016
Wot u :-) about? HOME, Manchester, England
We Want Data! Artpace, San Antonio, Texas, USA

2015
Ok, You’ve Had Your Fun! Casino Luxembourg, Luxembourg
The cold never bothered me anyway! 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, Scunthorpe
Let it go! Inverness Art Gallery, Scotland

2014
Please, Sir…, Rowing, London, England
The Weepers, Comar, Tobermory, Isle of Mull, Scotland
Happy and Glorious, Solo exhibition, Centre for Contemporary Art, Glasgow, Scotland, as part of Generation: 25 Years of Contemporary in Scotland
Rachel Maclean; Invites, Solo exhibition, Zabludowicz Collection, London, England
I HEART SCOTLAND, Solo exhibition, The Travelling Gallery, Various locations around Scotland

2013
Quick Child, Run!, Solo exhibition, Trade Gallery, Nottingham, England
I HEART SCOTLAND, Solo exhibition, The Edinburgh Printmakers as part of The Edinburgh Art Festival, Scotland
Over The Rainbow, Solo exhibition, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland

2012
Lolcats, Solo exhibition, Generator Projects, Dundee, Scotland
The Lion and The Unicorn, Solo exhibition, Current Projects, Brisbane, Australia

Group Exhibitions

2024
Cute, Somerset House, London

2023
Screen, Screen on my Phone, Who's the Fairest of Them All?, Garage, Rotterdam

2022
upside mimi (down mimi), NAFI, Nanjing, China
The Queen, Mary Queen of Scots, The Hunterian Museum, Glasgow, UK
I’m Terribly Sorry, Slip Stream Slip, SODA, Manchester, UK
I’m Terribly Sorry, Middlesbrough Art Weekender, Middlesbrough, UK
The Queen, Women’s Art Collection, Cambridge, UK
Pic, Me, Myself and I: Artists and Self-portraiture, RWA, Bristol, UK
The Queen, Scottish Women Artists, Sainsbury Centre, Norwich, UKIt’s What’s Inside That Counts, HOOKED V2, Science Gallery, Atlanta, USA
It’s What’s Inside That Counts & We Want Data!, Science Gallery, Singapore

2021
Feed Me, ‘Post-digital Intimacy', National Gallery of Prague, Czech Republic
Make Me Up & It’s What’s Inside That Counts, Fiction? Better than Reality!, Villa Merkel, Esslingen, Germany
Native Animals, Beano: The Art of Breaking the Rules, Somerset House, London
The Lion and The Unicorn, Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser Exhibition, V&A Museum, London
Feed Me, Candy Coated, The Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Madam in Eden I’m Adam' and 'madA m’I nedE ni madaM', Time Takes a Cigarette, Josh Lilley Gallery, London
Over The Rainbow, No Place Like Home, MOMA Foma, Hobart, Tasmania

2020/21
Dr Cute, #cute. Islands of Happiness at NRW Forum, Dusseldorf, Germany
It’s What’s Inside That Counts, BAB 2020, Bangkok Art Biennale, Bangkok

2019
Feed Me, You., from the Lafayette Anticipations Collection. At Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, France
Mending a Face, Cursed Images, curated by Ed Fornieles at Galerie Lisa Kandlhofer, Vienna, Austria
Germs and Mending a Face, Fuse-Video Art Exhibition, Double Square Gallery 双方藝廊,Taipei, Taiwan
I’m Terribly Sorry, XR Festival with the British Council, Madrid
I’m Terribly Sorry, ISO Design, Glasgow Short Film Festival, Glasgow
It's What's Inside That Counts & We Want Data!, We are the people. Who are you?, Edel Assanti, London

2018
Eyes 2 Me, Athens Biennale, Athens, Greece
We Want Data!, The Public Body.03, Artpace, Sydney Australia
Feed Me, Hooked, The Science Gallery, Kings College, London, England
I HEART SCOTLAND (prints), Travelling Gallery at 40: Edinburgh Art Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland
It's What's Inside That Counts, I Was Raised on the Internet, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, USA
It's What's Inside That Counts, Hello World - For The Post-Human Age, Mito Art Tower,Tokyo, Japan
Feed Me, Diesel Worm, Roskilde Music Festival, Denmark
Feed Me, In My Shoes,: Art & The Self Since The 1990s. Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Arts Council Collection Touring Exhibition

2017/18
The Lion and The Unicorn, The Art of Dissonance, The Seoul Museum of Art, South Korea

2017
British Film and Video, Studio 55, Seoul, South Korea
ARS17, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Finland
A Goth Life: Daata Editions, Art Cologne, Germany
It's What's Inside That Counts, A Non-Existent Place, JUT Art Museum, Taiwan
It’s What’s Inside That Counts, WE ARE THE REMIX, Röda Sten Konsthall, Gothenburg, Sweden
Feed Me, I Want! I Want! Art and Technology, Arts Council Collection, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
The Lion and The Unicorn, Video Encounters: inside the story, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast
It’s What’s Inside That Counts, TECHSTYLE Series 1.0: Ariadne’s Thread, MILL 6, Hong Kong, China

2016
Please Sir…, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Kochi, India
Frieze Film Projects, Frieze Art Fair, London, England
Again and Again and Again, The Miracle Marathon Weekend, Serpentine Galleries, London, England

2016/17
Feed Me, British Art Show 8, John Hansard Gallery, Southampton, England
Feed Me, British Art Show 8, Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery, Norwich, England
Feed Me, British Art Show 8, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland

2015/16
Feed Me, British Art Show 8, Leeds Art Gallery, England

2015
The Uncanny Valley, Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridgeshire, England
Just Frustration, SixtyEight, Copenhagen, Denmark
Daata Editions, Online exhibition

2014
Heathers, curated by Alex Ross, Rowing, London, England
Loop Video Art Fair, presented by Rowing, Barcelona, Spain
Anatomy of Anxieties, Edouard Malingue Gallery, Hong Kong, China
Over (Drive+Flow), Galerie Olivier Robert, Paris, France
A Post-Gender World, Wysing Art Centre, Bourne, England
My Fiction Is Real, University of Essex, Colchester, England
Tonight, you can call me Trish, Lab Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
Utopian Kind of Girl, The Nursery, London, England
Focus on Film, Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition, Edinburgh, Scotland

2013
As real as walking down the street and going to the grocery store, Rowing, London
Airy-Fairy, Lairy and Scary, The Philadelphia Sculpture Gym, in association Summerhall, Philadelphia, USA
Costume: Written Clothing, Group show at Tramway, Glasgow, Scotland
Neither Spit nor Diamonds, Flatpack Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
New Ideas for the City, St Petersburg Museum of Urban Sculpture, Saint Petersburg, Russia
The Dark Room, Passmore Edwards School of Science and Art Helston, Cornwall

2011
Polygon, Kunstarkaden, Munich, Germany
Microstoria, The Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
Sisyphus Happy, Backlit Gallery, Nottingham, England

2010
UK Young Artists, The Ark Shop, Derby, England
The International Bongo Bongo Brigade, Meetfactory International Centre for Contemporary Art, Prague, Czechia
They Had Four Years, Generator Projects, Dundee, Scotland
Hatchings, Patriothall Gallery in association with Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop
RSA New Contemporaries, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, Scotland

CV

Click here to download.
The Waltz of the Faeries Rising by Rachel Maclean, 2024
Hello Baby! by Rachel Maclean, 2024
Ba by Rachel Maclean, 2024
Installation View: If it looks like a duck... by Rachel Maclean, 2023
DUCK by Rachel Maclean, 2023
DUCK by Rachel Maclean, 2023
Tons of UFO Snot II II tonS OFU fo snoT by Rachel Maclean, 2023
Installation View: Frieze London by Rachel Maclean, 2023
¿I did, did I? by Rachel Maclean, 2022
Installation View: Don't Buy Mi by Rachel Maclean, undefined
Installation View: Don't Buy Mi by Rachel Maclean, 2023
?I did ,did I¿ by Rachel Maclean, 2022
I !now si raw a ,ris ,woN by Rachel Maclean, 2022
II !now si raw a ,ris ,woN by Rachel Maclean, 2022
.neve ro ddo reveN by Rachel Maclean, 2021
?ohw ,hO ?was I ti saw ohw ,hO by Rachel Maclean, 2021
Mr Owl ate my metal worm! by Rachel Maclean, 2021
Never a foot too far, even. & .neve ,raf oot toof a reveN by Rachel Maclean, 2021
Step on no pets! & !step on no petS by Rachel Maclean, 2021
Never odd or even. by Rachel Maclean, 2021
Oh, who was it I saw? Oh, who? by Rachel Maclean, 2021
!mrow latem ym eta lwO rM by Rachel Maclean, 2021
Save Mi by Rachel Maclean, 2021
I'm Fine by Rachel Maclean, 2021
That's not Mi! (Installation view) by Rachel Maclean, undefined
That's not Mi! (Installation view) by Rachel Maclean, undefined
That's not Mi! (Installation view) by Rachel Maclean, undefined
That's not Mi! (Installation view) by Rachel Maclean, undefined
That's not Mi! (Installation view) by Rachel Maclean, undefined
That's not Mi! (Installation view) by Rachel Maclean, undefined
That's not Mi! (Installation view) by Rachel Maclean, undefined
That's not Mi! (Installation view) by Rachel Maclean, undefined
That's not Mi! (Installation view) by Rachel Maclean, undefined
That's not Mi! (Installation view) by Rachel Maclean, undefined
That's not Mi! (Installation view) by Rachel Maclean, undefined
That's not Mi! (Installation view) by Rachel Maclean, undefined
That's not Mi! (Installation view) by Rachel Maclean, undefined
upside mimi ᴉɯᴉɯ uʍop (animation still 2021) by Rachel Maclean, undefined
upside mimi ᴉɯᴉɯ uʍop (animation still 2021) by Rachel Maclean, undefined
upside mimi ᴉɯᴉɯ uʍop (animation still 2021) by Rachel Maclean, undefined
upside mimi ᴉɯᴉɯ uʍop (animation still 2021) by Rachel Maclean, undefined
Installation View: Don't Buy Mi by Rachel Maclean, undefined
Installation View: Don't Buy Mi by Rachel Maclean, 2021
Installation View: upside mimi ᴉɯᴉɯ uʍop  by Rachel Maclean, undefined
Box Mi (Front) by Rachel Maclean, 2021
Box Mi (Back) by Rachel Maclean, 2021
Box Mi (Side view) by Rachel Maclean, 2021
Madam in Eden I’m Adam  by Rachel Maclean, 2020
madA m'I nedE ni madaM by Rachel Maclean, 2020
The Lion and The Unicorn, 2012 by Rachel Maclean, undefined
Spite Your Face - Venice Biennale 2017 by Rachel Maclean, undefined
Spite Your Face, 2017 by Rachel Maclean, undefined
Spite Your Face, 2017 by Rachel Maclean, undefined
Feed Me, 2015 by Rachel Maclean, undefined
Feed Me, 2015 by Rachel Maclean, undefined
Germs, 2013 by Rachel Maclean, undefined
I'm Terribly Sorry, 2018 by Rachel Maclean, undefined
Happy Man, from We Want Data, 2016 by Rachel Maclean, undefined

Exhibitions

That's not Mi! at Josh Lilley,presenting Rachel Maclean

That's not Mi!

Solo Show