James MacSwain

As Below, So Above

22 November - 21 December 2025
Fridays - Sundays: 12 - 6pm or by appointment

Opening Reception: Saturday 22 November, 2 - 6 pm

Gathering and Celebration::Sunday 21 December, 2 - 6 pm

James MacSwain was a founding member of HERMES in 2015 and was a beloved and cherished member of the Halifax art community. This solo exhibition of his work was programmed in the spring of 2025; sadly, Jim passed away on 6 September.

Jim was born in Amherst Nova Scotia in 1945 and settled in Halifax in the 1970s where he became legendary for his queer and art-culture activism propelled by his short films and stop-frame animations. Parallel to these, Jim consistently made static collages and accordion books which are, in many ways, relatives of his animations except that they are constructed with still images.

This exhibition, named after a key work by MacSwain from 2021, was assembled by Jeff Cowling and HERMES members Eryn Foster and Peter Dykhuis. It is constructed around verbal guidelines shared by Jim during his final days.

Eryn Foster, who also produced the 2024 biopic with Sue Johnson about Jim titled Celestial Queer states:

“In both his static work and ‘moving pictures’, Jim gloried in the drama he created with his subject matter that drew on his background in theatre. The wall-mounted shadow boxes and collages, combined with Jim’s accordion and star books, function like theatre stages with characters posed in dramatic and layered backgrounds full of symbolic and metaphorical imagery. In it all, Jim had a deep love of the surreal, the absurd, and the fantastical.”

Jeffrey Cowling shares:

“Jim was the most intriguing and fascinating person that I had the pleasure to know well. He was akin to one of those iconic characters you read about in a great historical novel, who you wished was real and someone that you actually knew.”

“I shared many memorable times with Jim. While taking morning walks with my neighbour’s dog each Wednesday, we often discussed the ancient Gods, bookbinding and marbling, wine and absinthe, ghosts and gossip. Jim continues to be part of my life, as he always will be.”

Beyond the exhibition opening, there will be an informal gathering and celebration of Jim’s life on Sunday 21 December from 2 – 6 pm, winter solstice. As Jim would like it, this is the day when we cosmically return to light after the descent into the darkness of winter.

A presentation of Celestial Queer (2024), a documentary film about James MacSwain produced by Sue Johnson and HERMES member Eryn Foster, will be presented at Carbon Arc Cinema at a future date in January.