Donald Macdonald (b.1976)

Donald was born on the Isle of Lewis in 1976 and after a short time in the Scottish Infantry he moved to Aberdeen and gained a BA Hons degree in Fine Art. After living and painting in Denmark and Glasgow for several years he returned home to the north of Scotand where he is now based.

Donald’s paintings are held in many private collections worldwide. In addition to this he was selected as the Scottish representative for the Johnson and Mead International Exhibition in the USA, and in 2009 his painting Broken Heart was accepted in to the BP Portrait Award Exhibition. In 2013 he exhibited a commissioned painting in the Imperial War Museum in Manchester and later won a place in the 7th Figurativas painting and sculpture exhibition, held in the European Museum of Modern Art, Barcelona. In 2017 he won the Public Choice Award at the Art Gemini Prize and recently was accepted to show at the Columbia Threadneedle Prize 2018.

My work is based around photorealism I find it increasingly important not to limit my subject matter. I find that I can push myself and my work much further by painting different subjects under different conditions. I always strive for my work to remain fresh by developing it and constantly moving it forward.

I have a very keen interest in the contrasts between the deliberate nature of photorealism and the more accidental side of expressionism and how the two can work together on the same canvas. How runs of paint can transofrm a technically photorealistic object. It fascinates me how these opposites can create something 'else', something new. I think it is very important for my work to create emotion and 'feeling' for the viewer, to be able to work on different levels and not just the visual.