As a queer artist based in Toronto, my focus throughout my artistic career
has been recontenxtualizing historical masculine images and critically
reimagining them through a modern queer lens.
As Toronto is an incredibly diverse city with people from all backgrounds
and body types, I am inspired to portray that diversity in my work,
especially my large oil paintings. I have also been influenced by my time
spent in Europe, specifically Germany and Italy, and the great work and
exceptional techniques of the Old Masters. I work to use those techniques
to create modern images that reflect Toronto’s diversity, and the passion
and beauty of the queer community within it.
Currently, I’m enrolled in the Academy of Realist Art, located in the
Columbus Center here in Toronto. While there, I’m studying to improve my
craft and technique so that I better use the skills perfected by the classical
artists in order to repurpose the stories and works that are foundational to
Western mythologies (such as those by Dante and Goya, for example)
within modern queer contexts.
I strive to not only provide an alternative history in which queer people
have indeed always existed, but were not represented, but also to
showcase ancient universal themes that are just as resonant for queer
audiences, even while queer communities were excluded from the
storytelling of the past.
Through my art, I aspire to create a more inclusive version of history, one
that is more reflective of modern Canadian society and its queer
communities. And I hope that this can help pave the way for a diverse
vision of the future.
Instagram: @mrbradmcd
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