Jessica Wee
On shelves, in stacks, scattered
Opening April 23, 2026, 5 pm – 8 pm
Jessica Wee is a Korean American Canadian artist who grew up in Paris and Montreal. Wee’s work explores the experience of navigating life between cultures, crafting alternate worlds that connect the multifaceted layers of her identity. She weaves together personal experiences, art historical references and fantasy, with an underlying sense of mystery and playful disruption. Her paintings depict domestic scenes and quotidian moments featuring characters who appear to transform, multiply, or divide. These alter-egos exude a sense of mischief, independence and freedom, soaring through space or peering through windows as if slipping in from another dimension.
Wee received a BFA from Concordia University, Montreal, in 2011. In 2017, she completed a Diploma in Classical Realist oil painting at the Angel Academy of Art in Florence, Italy. At the Spring Break Art Show in New York in 2022, Wee presented a standout solo exhibition curated by Lingfei Ren, which received acclaim from press including Hyperallergic and Artnet news. Most recently, her work was exhibited at Kiaf art fair in Seoul, Korea. She has held solo exhibitions at the Maison de la Culture NDG, Montreal (2024), Steve Turner Gallery, Los Angeles (2023); Latitude Gallery, New York (2022); Spring Break, New York (2022). Wee previously worked with acclaimed contemporary artist Angel Otero in New York. Her work has been featured in the Comedy Central TV show Nora from Queens. In 2023, Artsy selected her work Déjeuner sur l’herbe to be exhibited on screens throughout the New York City subway system as an initiative to highlight artists that reflect the cultural zeitgeist and community sentiments. Wee designed the illustrations for the 2023 Thom Browne collection. In 2023, she was an artist in residence at the prestigious Vermont Studio Center. Wee lives and works in Montreal, Canada, where she is currently a 2026 MFA candidate at Concordia University.
RECENT NEWS
Museum Exhibition
Berirouche Feddal
Group exhibition at the Musée d’art de Joliette
The gallery is pleased to share that artwork by Berirouche Feddal has been included in la clarté creuse les montagnes, an exhibition at the Musée d’art de Joliette, curated by Ariane de Blois.
Press
Beth Frey
Featured in CBC Arts Article by Chris Hampton
As one of several Canadian artists highlighted in the article, Beth Frey shares insights from her recent exhibition at McBride Contemporain and her perspective on creating art in a post-AI landscape.
Museum Exhibition
Yves Tessier
MAC group exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts
Girls on Campus by Tessier will be featured in Comfort and Indifference, an exhibition highlighting recent acquisitions from the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal’s collection.
Announcement
Rebecca Munce
Major Public Art Project in Toronto
This public art initiative, developed in collaboration with The Bentway and Exhibition Place, will take the form of a 10,000-square-foot mural spanning a large concrete wall beneath the Gardiner Expressway.
Acquisition
Bea Parsons
New Drawing Joins the Caisse de dépot Art Collection
McBride Contemporain is delighted to announce that Bea Parson’s artwork Outskirts has joined the Caisse de dépot art collection.
Announcement
Michelle Bui
New Public Artwork for the Réseau express métropolitain
McBride Contemporain is pleased to announce the inauguration of Filets, a new public artwork and triptych by represented artist Michelle Bui, permanently on display at Sainte-Dorothée Station in the REM.
McBride Contemporain is a contemporary art gallery based in Montreal.