Program Coordinator, Visual Digital Media Arts, Georgian College.
Studio Based Ph.D. in Visual Culture, Western University
MFA, University of Saskatchewan
BFA, Concordia University
Michael Farnan is a multidisciplinary artist and educator, living and working in the Simcoe Region. He holds a Studio-based Ph.D. in Art and Visual Culture and is current Program Coordinator of the Visual Digital Media Arts (VDMA) program at Georgian College. As a practicing professional artist, Michael’s exhibitions, videos, and performances have been shown throughout Canada, with presentations at PAVED Arts, Saskatoon, Doris McCarthy Gallery, University of Toronto, Scarborough, and Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba, Brandon. Recent exhibitions include participation in the major group show Gardenship and State at both Museum London and Thames Art Gallery, as well as a solo exhibition for Canoe Fight: From Reverence to Redress, at the MacLaren Art Centre. Farnan’s work has been supported by the Canada Council of the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Michael’s work explores Canadian representational history and discourses surrounding colonialism, wilderness, nature and nationhood. His work employs humour, parody and collaboration as tools for critical inquiry and reflection on how we think about relationships to nature. With a particular interest in the tensions and struggles found within visual representations of Canada’s iconic landscape, and the local domestic spaces that represent the daily lives of individual Canadians.
