Scott MacLeay (born March 25, 1950) is a Canadian photographer, composer and new media artist. His images, like his music, often deal with juxtapositions of fragmented elements in multilayered environments. He began his career in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in the later 1970s, moving to Paris in 1979. In 2010 he moved to Florianópolis, Brazil.
Education Scott MacLeay earned an Honours B.A. degree with a major in economics from Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario in 1972 and a Master of Science degree in economic theory specializing in development economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1974. He left his doctoral studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 1975 to pursue a career in photography.
Work He gained notoriety in the early 1980s for his color series AttitudesDegange, Stephen. « Cool Conceits, » Camera Arts, (March/April 1981) : cover, 72-81 incorporating detail-free, graphic figures in flat two-dimensional fields, first exhibited in 1980 at the Space GalleryEditorial, « Color Comes of Age, » Today's Photographer, vol. 2 number 1 (Winter 1981) : 30 – 50. of Pete Turner, Ernst Haas, Jay Maisel in New York. In 1981 he began collaborating with the Fresson family for the printing of his work. The luminosity of the pigment-based, Fresson charcoal processhttp://www.atelier-fresson.com/home.htm Fresson charcoal printing process - retrieved May 28th, 2015. was ideally suited to the texture-free, color palette he was exploring.Catalogue of the exhibition "Fresson photographs : a unity of visions", Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, 1985 / curated by Sandra Russell Clark; text by Evelyn Roth - retrieved May 28, 2015. In 1982 his work was included in the Life Library of Photography in the volume dedicated to the Art of Photography.Editor. « In Pursuit of Excellence, » The Art of Photography, Time-Life Books (revised edition 1981): 216Editor, Time-Life Books , « Chapter « In Pursuit of Excellence, » The Art of Photography, 1981- Retrieved May 28, 2015.
His work has been exhibited widely in Europe, N. and S. America and Japan and was represented by the Galérie Ufficio dell'Arte / Créatis in Paris and the Marcuse Pfeifer Gallery in New York where he exhibited both quadrichrome and dichromatic work during the 1980s.Ellenzweig, Allen. « Scott MacLeay at Marcuse Pfeifer, » Art in America (October 1983) : 188-189.Haas, Steven. « Scott MacLeay, » Arts Magazine, (May 1985) : 4-5.Deschamps, Madeleine. "Primates: Scott MacLeay," Zoom 116 (Été 1985): 56-65. He participated in both solo and group exhibitions for the Biennale Mois de la Photo de la Ville de Paris in 1980,Kovaleff, Alex. "L’Effet MacLeay" Ciné Vidéo Photo Revue, (Décembre 1980): cover, P60-63 1982Paris Audiovisuel. "Scott MacLeay : Fragments Cycles Sons / American Center," Mois de la Photo à Paris, Novembre 1982, Paris: Mairie de Paris (1982): 176-177. and 1988.Paris Audiovisuel. "Spelndeurs et Misères du Corps," Mois de la Photo à Paris Novembre 1988, Catalogue Général, Paris: Mairie de Paris (1988) - retrieved May 28th, 2015 His photographs are in included in private and museum collections worldwide.http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/artists/8109/Scott_MacLeay, Brooklyn Museum, Collections: Scott MacLeay, 1994 - retrieved May 28th, 2015.https://plus.google.com/u/0/101794633414581363202/posts/7yDfbinNF2o MFAH, Allen Chasanoff Photographic Collection, Museum of Fine Art Houston: 1991, Retrieved May 28, 2015.
In 1980, he founded the Photography Department at the American Center for Artists in Paris becoming Director of its Center for Media Art and Photography in 1985 following in the footsteps of founder Don Foresta and Anne-Marie Stein.Caujolle, Christian. "Scott MacLeay – Un Pont Sur l’Atlantique," Libération: rubrique Têtes d’Affiche, (22 octobre 1985)Delanoë, Nelcya. "Le Raspail Vert, L’American Center à Paris 1934-1994 – une histoire des avant-gardes franco-américaines," Editions Seghers, Paris (1994): 185, 188, 189, 221.http://www.surlimage.info/ressources/pdf/Historique.pdf Repères Historiques, Proposée par l’Encyclopédie nouveaux médias du Centre Georges Pompidou: 10 - Retrieved May 28, 2015
In 1982 he began composing experimental music for contemporary dance for American and French choreographers including Robert Kovich, Ruth Barnes, Marc Vincent and Jean-Marc Matos in collaboration with French choreographer François Raffinot. Musical composition became his principal activity by the end of the 1980s and in 1988, he formed Private Circus with vocalist Christel Desjardin,http://data.bnf.fr/13971155/private_circus/ Bibliothèque Nationale de France: group Private Circus (1990) - retrieved May 28th, 2015. an informally structured musical research group, that made two CDs on the French independent label Sordide Sentimental: the contemporary cabaret opera Les Petities Foules / Small Crowds (SSCD004, 1990)http://catalogue.bnf.fr/servlet/biblio?idNoeud=1&ID=38204541&SN1=0&SN2=0&host=catalogue Bibliothèque Nationale de France: "Les Petites Foules (Small Crowds)". Composer: Scott MacLeay. Group: Private Circus. Label: Sordide Sentimental (1990) - retrieved May 28th, 2015. and a compilation of music created for contemporary dance La Moitié de L'Histoire (SSFP99, 1994).http://www.musiquecontemporaine.fr/record/oai:bnf.fr:gallica/ark:/12148/cb38289761s music for contemporary dance. Composer: Scott MacLeay. Group: Private Circus. Label: Sordide Sentimental (1994) - retrieved May 28th, 2015.
In 2010 he settled in Florianópolis, Brazil where in addition to returning to photography and new media work,https://www.yumpu.com/pt/document/view/12937632/download-floripa-na-foto/17 retrospective Scott MacLeay "Cores Corpos e Coros," Festival Floripa na Foto (2011) - retrieved May 28th, 2015.http://arteseanp.blogspot.com.br/2012/06/conversando-sobre-arte-entrevistado_26.html interview online (June 2012) - retrieved May 28th, 2015.http://photos.com.br/scott-macleay/ Editora Photos summary of Scott MacLeay's work (2015) - retrieved May 28th, 2015http://tvbrasil.ebc.com.br/estudiomovel/episodio/giana-viscardi-no-estudio-movel interview Scott MacLeay TV Brasil (September 2014) - retrieved May 28th, 2015. he also curates exhibitions of young Brazilian new media artistshttp://diariocatarinense.clicrbs.com.br/sc/variedades/noticia/2014/04/fotografo-scott-macleay-e-o-curador-de-mostras-que-abrem-hoje-e-amanha-em-florianopolis-4487309.html exposições "Interferências" & "Perspectiva(s)". Curadoria: Scott MacLeay (April 2014) - retrieved May 28th, 2015.http://www.museuinimadepaula.org.br/museu-inima-de-paula-exibe-hotel-esplendido/ exposição "Hotel Esplêndido" de Laura Fonseca. Curadoria: Scott MacLeay (February/March 2015) - retrieved May 28th, 2015 and writes on conceptual approaches to photography.http://photos.com.br/tags/ver/scott-macleay/ Scott MacLeay in Photo Magazine (2013) - retrieved May 28th, 2015. He has directed workshops / portfolio critiques at various events such as Floripa na Foto (2011 and 2013)http://issuu.com/pauloramon/docs/floripanafoto2011 workshop Scott MacLeay Floripa na Foto (October 2011) - retrieved May 28th, 2015. and the Festival de Fotografia de Tiradentes (2013/2015/2018/2019/2020)http://www.fotoempauta.com.br/festival2013/quebrando-regras-enquadramento-e-composicao-falta-programavagas/ workshop Scott MacLeay Festival de Foto de Tiradentes 2013 (March 2013) - retrieved May 28th, 2015.http://www.fotoempauta.com.br/festival2015/workshop/scott/ workshop Scott MacLeay Festival de Foto de Tiradentes 2015 (March 2015) - retrieved May 28th, 2015. as well as at institutions such as the SESC Santana and SESC 24 de Maio, São Paulo (2014/2017/2018).http://www.sescsp.org.br/aulas/46837_RETRATO+AUTORAL+ESPELHO+E+JANELA workshop Scott MacLeay at the SESC Santana SP (November 2014) - retrieved May 28th, 2015. His book of essays on photography Pensar, Sentir, Ver: Percepção e Processo em Fotografia (Thinking, Feeling, Seeing: Perception and process in Photography) was published in 2015.
Since 2017, Macleay's work has been increasingly dedicated to exploring interactive, non-linear storytelling, employing photography, video and audio. The first phase of his transmedia project Encounters in the Right and Left Hemispheres was completed in December 2019: an interactive book of the same named published in February 2020. The second phase, an interactive web platform, was completed and available for online exploration in January 2021: https://encounters-right-left-hemispheres.onlinehttps://encounters-right-left-hemispheres.online
In 2018, his cultural action company CREATIVE PROCESS, founded in 2011, began publishing books in the field of new media. To date, five books have been published including two devoted to MacLeay's work: Quadrichromie 1978–1988 (2018) and Encounters in the Right and Left Hemispheres (2020).
Honors / awards / official selections
Canada Council Doctoral Fellowship 1974/75 New York Art Directors Club Award (1982) for the photographic work featured in the Stephen DeGange article « Cool Conceits, » Camera Arts (March/April 1981) Rockefeller Foundation Artist in Residence at the American Center in Paris for the project « Fragments Cycles Sons » : multi-media photographic exhibition for the 1982 Biennale Mois de la Photo de la Ville de Paris 10th Tokyo Video Festival : Special Merit Award for the excellence in musical composition for the videodance « Josette Einstein » (co-production : Centre Georges Pompidou, Daikiri, AAA, American Center, Blizz'Art) Video “(S)he (Plural)”(2016): - Official Selection, Summer 2017 Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival (June, 2017)
- Official Selection, 2017 Experimental Forum Festival in Los Angeles (screening: November 18, 2017)
- Award Winner, 2017 Canada Shorts: Canadian and International Short Film Festival, New Brunswick, Canada - November 2017
Video Polyptych “Isolation Row (Naked Confusion Disguised as a Friend)” (2021):
- Award winner, 7th Art Independent International Film Festival, Vanchiyoor, India (November 2021)
- Award winner, Canada Shorts: Canadian and International Short Film Festival, New Brunswick, Canada (December 2021)
- Official Selection, Berlin International Art Film Festival, Berlin, Germany (November 2021)
- Semi-finalist, Tokyo Shorts Festival, Tokyo, Japan (February 2022)
- Finalist, Santa Barbara Shorts Festival, Santa Barbara, California, US (May 2022)
- Semi-finalist, Paris International Short Festival, Paris, France, (May 2022)
- Semi-finalist, New Short Filmmakers Festival, Austin, Texas, US (June 2022)
- Semi-finalist Rio de Janeiro World Film Festival, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (July 2022)
Video “Chance Encounter N°11” from the project “Encounters in the Right and Left Hemispheres” (2020):
- Official Selection, Stockholm City Film Festival, Stockholm, Sweden (June 2022)
- Official Selection, Miami Indie Film Awards, Miami, US (July 2022)
- Official Selection, LA Indies Film Festival, Los Angeles, US (July 2022)
- Semi-finalist, Tokyo Shorts Festival, Tokyo, Japan (August 2022)
Video “Relativity: The Journey Inside” (2021): - Award winner, Paris Film Awards, Paris, France (July 2022)
- Honorable Mention, London Movie Awards, London, England (August 2022)
- Semi-finalist, San Francisco Arthouse Short Festival, San Francisco, US (July 2022)
- Award winner, Hong Kong Indie Film Festival (August 2022)
- Semi-finalist, Munich Short Film Awards, Munich, Germany (August 2022)
- Official Selection, Florence Film Awards, Florence, Italy (August 2022)
- Official Selection, Toronto Indie Shorts Festival, Toronto, Canada (August 2022)
- Semi-finalist, Vancouver Movie Awards, Vancouver, Canada (September 2022)
- Nominated, Art Film Spirit Awards, Toronto, Canada (September 2022)
- Official Selection, Top Indie film Awards, Tokyo, Japan (January 2023)