Melanie Rocan

Melanie Rocan holds a master of fine arts, from the painting program at Concordia University in Montreal. In 2003, she graduated from the University of Manitoba with a bachelor of fine arts honours degree and completed a thesis in painting.

In 2008, her work was included in a painting survey exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art in Toronto in conjunction with a release of Magenta Foundation’s Carte Blanche Volume 2: Painting. In 2007, she was part of a group exhibition at the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery in Montreal, and her thesis exhibition was shown at Concordia University and in Toronto at the Paul Petro Contemporary Art gallery. She was also selected as a semifinalist in the 9th annual RBC painting competition, had a solo exhibition at the artist-run centre in Saint-Boniface, la Maison des artistes visuels francophones, and a two-person show at the Project Room, in Glasgow, Scotland.

In 2006, she was nominated for the first time as a semifinalist in the RBC painting competition, and her work was included in a group exhibition travelling to galleries across Canada, including Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Toronto, and the Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver. During that year, Melanie was also part of a group exhibition, Supernovas, at the Winnipeg Art Gallery and a Too-Sicks exhibition at Gallery 1.1.1 at the University of Manitoba. In 2005, she was part of an exchange program with the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland and had a solo exhibition entitled Familiar Places at the Paul Petro Contemporary Art gallery in Toronto. In 2003, Rocan was part of the Young Winnipeg Artists group exhibition at Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art and a Too-Sicks collective show À La Planche at the Annex Gallery in Winnipeg.