WILLIAM MACKINNON
William Mackinnon’s large cinematic roadscapes are painted from memory, imagination and roads recently and less recently travelled. Traversing the Australian landscape through the long night these huge paintings invite contemplation. They are not the roads of longing and escape, as seen in his previous work, but are tinged with optimism. The paintings in The Great Indoors form an intersection of the imagination and the sensory world. Mackinnon’s new road paintings will be exhibited alongside a new experimental project from Mackinnon, a series of hand-painted lenticular three-dimensional prints that need to be seen to be believed. Poppy, playful family portraits where double adapters and power boards stand in for family members. Sprinklers await, ready to pop off the picture plane. This is Mackinnon in full swing exploring the possibilities of painting: sensual, clever and fun.
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 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 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, Macquarie Bank Collections, RACV and Stonnington Council Collections, as well as various private collections in Australia and overseas.
