BIO

Darren McDonald is a young Melbourne painter whose work has always had a strong psychological edginess. His eye may fall on an animal or the human form - no matter what the subject , he is never content to rest on surface detail. In his work we feel and come to have an understanding of what it means to be animal, human. And as his search has continued he has found that the language of paint has enabled him to peel back surface and expose and lay bare - there are of course overtones with Freud,Hockney,Bacon: but always the distinctive McDonald eye, heart, mind. It's always raw and gutsy and up close. Paradoxically there is a stillness too, a moment when the subject is caught/trapped it its own vulnerability - its own private world. This creates a tension and a drama - the moment where potential energy is on the point of becoming kinetic. And those empty spaces of Belgian linen become activated and alive. There is a fiz , a zing and you know that your own private world is there on the canvas too.

Peter Fay 2008

Collections

2006     Ergas Collection, National Gallery of Australia
2003     National Gallery of Australia
2002     National Bank of Australia

Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

2008     A new Life", Scott, Livesey Galleries, Melbourne
2007     Newspaper Things Michael Reid Gallery, Sydney
2006     Gods Before Thee Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne
2005     The Declining Reclining Figure Spacement Gallery, Melbourne
2004     White Goods Chapman & Bailey
2003     Honest Goods Crossley & Scott, Melbourne
2002     Platform Years Platform, Spencer Street Station, Melbourne
2002     The Tucked Away Heart Room 35, Gitte Weise, Sydney
2002     Love of Joy, Crossley & Scott, Melbourne
2001     Heroes Mass, North Fitzroy
2001     The First Time Ever, Town Hall Hotel, North Melbourne
2001     Wishful, Continental Caf, Prahran
2000     A Girl to the World, Town Hall Hotel, North Melbourne
2000     Goodbye Farwell Kisses, Patrizia Autore Gallery, St Kilda
2000     Zoo, Vis, Melbourne
1999     Paddock, Town Hall Hotel, North Melbourne
1999     Smoke, West St Kilda RSL, West St Kilda
1999     Heat Transfers, Town Hall Hotel, North Melbourne
1998     Cat Confessions, Project Space, Melbourne
1998     Small Mercies, Town Hall, Hotel, North Melbourne
1998     Flight Paths, Town Hall Hotel, North Melbourne

Group Exhibitions


2008    "Group Show 08", Scott Livesey Galleries
2007     Artists for Kids Culture Auction Nellie Castan Gallery, South Yarra
2007     Blood Lines Art and the Horse Hawkesbury Regional Gallery 
             curated by Peter Fay
2007     ABN Amro Emerging Artist Award- Selection
2006     Kids for Culture Jackman Gallery
2006     Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales
2005     Kids for Culture Jackman Gallery
2004     Faces, Ord Minnett Gallery, Melbourne
2003     Works from the Peter Fay Collection, National Gallery of
             Australia, Canberra
2003     Little Creatures Ray Hughes Gallery, Sydney
2003     The Art of Collecting Contemporary Art A collection of artists
             selected from the Peter Fay Collection, Damien Minton Gallery, Newcastle
2003     St Kilda Art Supplies Group Show, Metropolis, Melbourne
2001     Works Graduate Show Building 2, RMIT University,
             Melbourne
2001     Autumn Group Show, Landau Gallery, St Kilda
2000     St Kilda Artists Group Show, Patrizia Autore Gallery, St Kilda
1997     Snapshot, curated by Antony Clare, Stop 22, St Kilda
1997     Blue, St Martins Theatre, South Yarra Graduate Show,
             Diploma of Fine Arts, RMIT Melbourne
1996     Group Show curated by Tracey McClaren, Prince of Wales,
             St Kilda