Pez Museum

In London, Ontario, father Jason Mclean and his two sons, Felix and Henry, took what started as a small passion project and creatively expanded it beyond the realm of a traditional collecting. A spare room in their basement became a museum that included not only an impressive collection of pez dispensers but also a homemade candy dispensing machine, fantasy pez dispensers, pez-themed art created by Felix & Henry and donated art contributions from Jason's peers and friends. The basement museum charged 25 cents for admission by locals curious enough to venture inside. In 2014 the family relocated to New York and the pez museum transformed into a roving exhibit. It found a new audience and garnered press, including Metro NY, The New York Post and The New York Times. The museum gradually became part of Jason’s art practice and elements from it were included in exhibits at the Glenhyrst Art Gallery in Brantford, Ontario, The Van Der Plas Gallery in New York and The Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa, Ontario.

Ostensibly about pez collecting, “Felix & Henry's Canadian Pez Museum” is about taking something mundane and common, cultural merchandise that is part of the play between parent and child, and elevating it. The child's project becomes integrated with the parent's career as a visual artist - children inform the parent as much as the opposite. Jason, as father, struggles with his own mental health. He has been diagnosed as schizophrenic. For the sake of his family he strives for balance and stability. The collaboration between him and his two sons becomes an important family connection.The Pez museum ends up tying together three generations of a family as Jason's parents contribute their own unique artistic interpretations of pez dispensers. They use drawing as a way to help grapple with ageing and retirement and become inspired by their son and grandchildren. The wider visual arts community is brought in to participate as collaborator and spectator.

Jason McLean is an avid collector. Living in New York inspired him to start seeking out celebrities to autograph the inner sleeves of the museum's pez dispensers. As more and more signatures are obtained this becomes a hidden collection within the original one, serving as a metaphor for the layers of meaning embedded in art. In interviews Jason openly questions whether his urge to collect informs his art practice or distracts him away from it. The museum evolves from a housed stationary collection into an itinerant exhibition and then back again when the family returns to London, Ontario, during the covid pandemic. During this time the mantle of leadership shifts from Felix to Henry, showing the evolving dynamics within the family unit. Interviews include those who have seen and/or participated in the museum including musician and visual artist Arrington de Dionyso, collector Dan Treibor (owner of Dan’s Parents’ House), autograph collector Jeremy Cane, artists Robert Dayton, Austin English, David Nuss and gallery owner Adriaan Van Der Plas.