A decade ago, I reached out to John MacConnell to become part of my artist interview series for Huffington Post. Neither of us anticipated that interview to begin an important friendship. We quickly became each other’s trusty plus ones for events and kept each other sane during COVID. We’ve spent countless hours discussing our projects, binge-watching superhero TV shows, and drinking [a redacted amount of] cocktails.

When the concept of Natural Pursuits took shape five years ago, John embraced my vision, lending his artistic talents to the inaugural issue and assuming the role of Creative Director for the print magazine. With his discerning eye and impeccable layout skills, he shaped the visual aesthetic of our magazine. If you’ve been impressed with the design of our magazine. It’s because of John. Most recently, we released Inked issue and agree its our strongest collaboration to date.

This past year I had the privilege of watching John’s artistic process as he brought to life the work for his newest solo gallery show, “Fragments.” We discussed his intentions and ideas, while I marveled at the work created. Now that the show is open and I couldn’t be prouder to share his work with the Natural Pursuits community.

I went to the opening of the show last weekend at Childs Gallery in Boston and it was incredible. John’s work weaves together ancient sculptures from Delphi and the Acropolis with contemporary individuals, creating a dialogue that transcends time and space. Drawing inspiration from the contrapposto forms of Hellenic statues, his models strike timeless poses, intentionally fragmented, missing limbs and heads as though worn away by history itself.

This deliberate act of fragmentation invites viewers to actively participate in the creation of narratives, bridging the unknown and igniting their imagination.

The theme of fragmentation resonates with our fragmented experiences in the digital age. By juxtaposing contemporary bodies with ancient art, MacConnell encourages us to reflect upon the narratives we construct about ourselves and others in the realm of social media. Just as the bodies in his artwork are fragmented, our online personas are curated assemblages of fragments, carefully presented to the world. Through his thought-provoking work, MacConnell invites us to contemplate our identities and connections in our ever-evolving digital landscape.

I decided to celebrate my friend in the cruelest way imaginable—I asked made him to turn the musings he shared with me and artistic vision into concrete answers. I emailed him the questions and as soon as he read them he texted me, “How dare you make me put into intelligible writing the things I’ve been blabbering about for the last year.” Sorry, not sorry, bud.

I invite you enjoy the fruits of this “torture” and see a glimpse of John’s work in “Fragments.” If you find yourself in the Boston area, I highly recommend visiting the exhibition, which will be running until July 8th at the Childs Gallery.

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Exhibition Details

John MacConnell: Fragments

May 18th – July 8th

Childs Gallery, 168 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02116
Gallery Hours
Tuesday – Friday: 9 AM – 6 PM
Saturday & Sunday: 11 AM – 5 PM
Monday: Closed

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artist Interview 

Natural Pursuits (NP): Your work examines the narratives we create about ourselves and others, particularly in relation to social media. How do you see the connection between the fragmented ancient sculptures and the curated online personas we construct today?

John MacConnell (JM): What is the single definitive story of Zeus? Or is it Jupiter? It depends on who you ask. He has many stories. Stories that have been told and retold and changed over time by each new generation and culture. Some focus on his benevolence; some focus on his malice. These cultures wrote poems, created paintings, and built sculptures to remember him. Today we are left with these varied, often partial, text and images and we piece together what we can. 

What is your story? Your LinkedIn profile says you’re focused, hardworking, and results-driven. But your Instagram shows that you spend all of your time traveling to beaches far and wide. And we won’t mention what your dating app says about you… Which is the real story? 

Probably all of them and they’re just different fragments of your life and personality. Will history remember you for your resume? Or that time you went skinny-dipping? 

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NP:  In my case, probably the skinny-dipping. Your previous series ‘Pictura in Pictura’  explored the juxtaposition of male nudes with various environments, highlighting the overwhelming presence of images in our visual landscape. Could you discuss how ‘Fragments,’ builds upon the themes of ‘Pictura in Pictura’ and further explores the idea of storytelling through fragmented bodies?

JM: I think I’m a little obsessed with the ideas of history, memory, virtual-life versus irl, storytelling, and things revealed and concealed. I like my artwork to challenge people to fill in the blank. 

Pictura in Pictura provided juxtapositions of images. Those images referenced pieces of our modern visual vocabulary such as camera rolls, advertising out in the world, social media feeds, FaceTime screens, etc. to create narratives. A still image only captures a single moment in time but by combining images greater narratives can be told. Sometimes my combined images tell a story of a short moment that is only seconds long. 

Other times the images are so different it is clear they are from different times. In the latter scenario a greater story is created. If you see a billboard along the highway, are you painted a picture of what the community is interested in? If you look at someone’s camera roll, do you get an idea of who they are or what they did that day? The simple combination of two or more images can be powerful. 

Fragments deals with that same idea of the moment. Instead of multiple moments focuses on a single expression, hand gesture, pose, etc. Without providing any further context, it leaves us to create the whole story. 

This is a type of decision making we employ everyday. How much can you say with a headshot? For LinkedIn, are you not trying to say, “I’m a serious, hardworking professional” and also, “I’m nice and easy to work with,” all in one shot? 

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NP: Follow up, how does this progression reflect your exploration of the visual language we encounter in our everyday lives?”

JM: As someone who spends a lot of time consuming visuals from all sources, especially from social media, I try to stay conscious of what I’m seeing. I don’t just mean the photos but the greater structure of the ecosystem of media, social or otherwise. What am I reacting to and why? What’s trending and why? How does it make me feel and why? Why do people post what they do? Why do people like what they do? 

NP: Given the theme of your exhibition and the focus of your work, how do you think your exploration of the human form intersects with the broader discussions around nudity in queer culture? 

JM: There are a lot of important conversations happening right now in Queer art. It is an exciting time! It seems like the first time that queer people can openly make art with the idea that it will be publicly shown. That said, the topic is still extremely taboo and it is unlikely those exhibitions will be outside of a small list of cities. 

Personally, I would like to undo the demonization of the male nude. Nudity in general is frowned upon but the male body, in particular, seems to be threatening to society. The male nude was honored in antiquity, but even that came with rules. It was the Statue of David that sparked conflict in Florida very recently about decency in school, not one of the many Venuses in art. What is the problem with the male body? Nearly half of the planet is male. There is no surprise what it looks like. There should be no reason for anyone to be threatened or ashamed of what nature has created. 

NP: Finally, you’ve been a part of Natural Pursuits Magazine since the beginning and are critical to the look and feel of our print magazine.  We just released the Inked Issue. These questions have all been hard so here’s a softball. What were some of your favorite parts of this issue? 

JM: This is a GREAT issue. I particularly enjoy the stories “Flash” that shows the process behind getting a tattoo and “Eight x Ten” a  series of large format polaroids by Da Ping Luo. My absolute favorite is a historical piece titled, “Dick Prints”. It references the ancient art of woodblock printing, which as you noted in the piece, was started during the Han Dynasty around 206 B.C. The Natural Pursuits interpretation is the best part. Each participant was asked to provide their own wood. The results are beautiful and the behind the scenes images show how fun they were to make. 

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