Sunday 28 April 2019

Mixed Up: Works by Max MacDonald

GAS is currently displaying "hybrid and remixed drawings" by Max MacDonald.

Here is what the man himself has to say about them:

This show stems from a relatively recent return to the practice of figure drawing - and a general re-evaluation of how the act of drawing itself fits into my creative life. I suspect I have given the very notion of drawing short shrift for whole decades; let's just say that I am now engaged in making up for lost time. 
This show represents a selection from roughly five hundred iPad drawings I've made over the course of the last 18 months or so. They are very much "remixes" of actual drawings which have since taken on lives of their own, quite separate from the original works. By combining the flexible possibilities inherent in a tablet with these real-world drawings (roughly half of these derived from the past few years' worth of life drawing sessions and the other half from various other sources, most notably a prolific period of drawing from the 80s), I'm able to quickly work with line, colour, texture and collage, weaving it all together into bold new things. 
In terms of source imagery, while the figure obviously plays a dominant role I've nonetheless managed to work in my painter's fascination with abstraction, landscape and texture, as well as my love of urban photography - elements which have long intrigued me and informed my visual sensibility. 
I hope you enjoy gazing at these works as much as I did wrestling with them.

And here are some photos from the show's reception on April 27th:






















Max's work will remain on display until Sunday, May 12, so come check it out if you can!