NEIL MacDONALD

Lives and works in Stow, OH

EDUCATION

2001    M.F.A. Painting, Kent State University, Kent, OH

1981    B.F.A. Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2016    Pilgrimage, SHAHEEN modern and contemporary art, Cleveland, OH

2014    Baroque in Scale, SHAHEEN modern and contemporary art, Cleveland, OH

2010    History Paintings, SHAHEEN modern and contemporary art, Cleveland, OH

2008    Dreamland: Recent Paintings by Neil MacDonald, Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH 

2006    Recent Paintings, SHAHEEN modern and contemporary art, Cleveland, OH

2004    Collision with Terrain, The Cleveland Foundation, Cleveland, OH

2003    Collision with Terrain, SHAHEEN modern and contemporary art, Cleveland, OH

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2011    Nexts, Centennial Alumni Exhibition II, Kent State University, Kent, OH

            Moving On, Kent State University Graduate Painting Alumni, Kent State University, Kent, OH

2007    Side By Side, Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, OH

            Neointegrity, curated by Keith Mayerson, Derek Eller Gallery, New York, NY

2005    Topographic, SPACES, Cleveland, OH

2002    Selections from the Viewing Room, Roberts & Tilton, Los Angeles, CA

2000    Works on Paper Competition (Jury Award Recipient), John J. McDonough Museum, Youngstown, OH

1999    63rd Annual Mid-Year Exhibition, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH

SELECTED PRESS

Neil MacDonald's "Dreamland" exhibition on display at Akron Art Museum, Dan Tranberg, Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 2009

Neil MacDonald (capsule review), Zachary Lewis, Cleveland Scene, November 2006

Topographic (capsule review), Zachary Lewis, Cleveland Scene, February 2005

Artists play on familiar landscapes in Spaces show, Dan Tranberg, Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 2005

Neil MacDonald

History Paintings

May 7 - June 11, 2010

SHAHEEN modern and contemporary art is pleased to announce an exhibition of new paintings by Neil MacDonald

For his second full-scale exhibition at SHAHEEN, and first exhibition at the gallery since 2006, Neil MacDonald expands his inquiry into the formal, technical and thematic concerns that have guided his paintings of the past eight years.  While the majority of MacDonald's paintings to date have derived from video stills depicting peripheral, often tranquil scenes and moments from the aftermath, cleanup and investigation of airplane crashes and environmental disasters, "History Paintings" finds the artist culling reproductions of old master paintings from art history text books and the internet, and filtering them through his systematic and consistently applied working process.  The result is a visually profuse and spectacular group of mid and large scale paintings, and fully realized small scale studies based on masterpieces by Peter Paul Rubens, Tintoretto and others.  "History Paintings" will be anchored by "The Battle of Lepanto (After Vicentino)", MacDonald's largest and most ambitious painting to-date.  Spanning five panels and measuring 64 x 160 inches, "Lepanto" is based on 17^th century Venetian painter Andrea Vicentino's mural-sized battle scene depicting the third and final Battle of Lepanto, a naval skirmish in which the Holy League earned a decisive victory over the Ottoman Empire.

The images of well-known old master paintings that provide the basis for the artist's "History Paintings" series have been selected for their visual profusion, chaotic energy, and dynamic compositions.  By re-interpreting these images through his rigorous, even-handed painting process, MacDonald continues his ongoing exploration into humankind's innate need to impose order onto chaos and make sense of the unexplainable and unfathomable; the ways in which painting, photography and other modes of visual representation serve that need; and the capacity of visual representation to not only record, order, and disseminate information about historical events, but also its ability to perpetuate alternate versions of history and reality. 

MacDonald was most recently the subject of a solo exhibition at the Akron Art Museum (Akron, Ohio), entitled Dreamland.  He earned his BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art and MFA from Kent State University.  MacDonald currently lives and works in Stow, Ohio.

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