William Mackinnon’s self-reflexive approach to painting combines memory, emotion and the imagination, circumventing clichéd explorations of the Australian landscape to create immersive cinematic landscapes that form a uniquely personal expression of our environment and culture.
Mackinnon completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Melbourne in 2000, a Postgraduate Diploma at the Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, in 2006 and a Master of Visual Arts at the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne in 2008. He has held solo exhibitions nationally and internationally, including On the edge of knowing, Utopian Slumps, Melbourne, 2013; William Mackinnon, Utopian Slumps at Art Stage Singapore, 2013; Landscape as self portrait, Morton Fine Art, Washington, USA, 2012; The Great Indoors, Utopian Slumps, Melbourne, 2012; The Black Dog, Boutwell Draper, Sydney, 2011; The Lucky Country, Utopian Slumps, Melbourne, 2011; Moving, Boutwell Draper Gallery, Sydney, 2010; Paintings Conceived While Driving, Utopian Slumps, Melbourne, 2009; Mountains, Streams and Cave Dreams, Joint Hassles, Melbourne, 2008; The Covers Album, Joint Hassles, Melbourne, 2007; Not Anxious, Melbourne Art Rooms, Melbourne, 2005; and In and Out, Hewer St Studios, London, 2004. Selected group exhibitions include Basil Sellers Art Prize, Ian Potter Museum of Art, The University of Melbourne, 2014; Landscape of Longing: Shoreham 1950- 2012, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, 2013; The Painting Group, Milani Gallery, Brisbane, 2011; The Painting Group, Utopian Slumps, Melbourne, 2010; Hell’s Bottom Drawer, curated by Susan Jacobs, Jess Johnson and Katherine Hattam, Hell Gallery, Melbourne, 2010; Contemporary Collage, John Buckley Fine Art, Melbourne, 2008; Under the Influence, Warnambool Art Gallery, Victoria, 2007; Going Under, Joint Hassles, Melbourne, 2007; Empire Strikes Back, Hewer St Studios, London, 2006; Chase, Royal College, London, 2005, Cut and Paste, Pickled Art Centre, Beijing, 2002; and Homeshow, Next Wave Festival, Melbourne, 2002. Mackinnon’s work is held in the Artbank, Griffith University, Holmesglen, Joyce Nissan, Macquarie Bank, RACV, State Library of Victoria and Stonnington Council collections, as well as various private collections in Australia and overseas. Mackinnon will hold a forthcoming solo in London in 2015.