"When I paint a painting, I’m always looking for something I didn’t know or think of at the beginning. In other words, I need a surprise to happen somewhere in the process that gets me excited and injects energy into the work. I had a number of paintings from the National Gallery in my head and it was just a case of waiting until my subconscious found a use for one of them. The two small figures were in a painting very different to the final version, when out of the blue the image of Raeburn’s portrait, cradling the two demons, popped into my head. It seemed poignant and relevant to the times we are living through, showing the hidden price many are having to pay." Alan Macdonald
Alan Macdonald - Biography
1962 Born in Malawi, Central Africa
1984 BA Hons. Fine Art, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee, Scotland
1985 Post Diploma in Fine Art, Cyprus College of Art, Paphos, Cyprus
1985-88 WASPS Studios, Forebank and Meadowmill, Dundee, Scotland
1988-90 ACME Studio/accommodation, London
1990-2003 ACME Studio, Childers Street, Deptford, London
2003-present Living and working in Carnoustie, Scotland
Solo Exhibitions
1995-98 The Bruton Street Gallery, London
1996 Smelik & Stokking Galleries, Den Haag, Netherlands
1999 Caldwell Snyder Gallery, New York
2000 England & Co., London
Smelik & Stokking Galleries, Amsterdam
2001 England & Co., London
2003 England & Co., London
Davis, Langdon and Everest, London
2005 Smelik & Stokking Galleries, Den Haag, Netherlands
2008 Galerie Rademakers, Amsterdam, ‘Something of the Night’
2009 Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho, USA
2010 Galerie Rademakers, Amsterdam ‘Message from the Dark Side’
Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho, USA
2013 Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho, USA 'Playground of the Mind'
2016 Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho, USA 'Mind Games'
2017 Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho, USA 'Solo Exhibition'
2019 (October) Solo exhibition Kilmorack Gallery, Beauly, Inverness-shire, Scotland
2021 (November) ‘Parallel Universe’, Stone Sparrow NYC, New York, New York, USA
2021 (December) ‘Beyond Reason’, KP Projects Gallery, Los Angeles, California, USA
Group Exhibitions
1985 Gloria Gallery, Nicosia, Cyprus
Kyklos Gallery, Paphos, Cyprus
Dundee Printmakers, Seagate Gallery, Dundee, Scotland
1986 Compass Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland
Aberdeen Artists Exhibition, Aberdeen, Scotland
Dundee Printmakers, Seagate Gallery, Dundee, Scotland
1987 Stirling Biennial, Stirling, Scotland
Dundee Printmakers, Seagate Gallery, Dundee, Scotland
1988 Compass Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland
1989 Hunting Group Prizes Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
1992 ‘Far Horizons’with Campbell Sandilands, Kyoto, Japan
Whitechapel Open Studios, London
1993 Joint show with Campbell Sandilands, Gallery Forty-Seven, London
Merz Contemporary Arts, London
Open Studios, Deptford, London
1994 Whitechapel Open Studios, London
The Bruton Street Gallery, London, ‘3 + 3’
William Jackson Gallery, London
William Jackson Gallery at The 20th Century British Art Fair, London
The Blue Gallery, London
1995 The Hunting Art Prizes Exhibition, London and Swansea
William Jackson Gallery at Art 95, Business Design Centre, London
Smelik & Stokking Galleries at KunstRai International Art Fair, Amsterdam
The Blue Gallery, London, ‘Elemental’
Smelik & Stokking Galleries, Den Haag, Netherlands, Summer Exhibition
The Bruton Street Gallery, London, Summer Exhibition
The Discerning Eye Competition, Mall Galleries, London
The Blue Gallery, London, Christmas Exhibition
1996 Royal Overseas League 13th Annual Open Exhibition, London
The Discerning Eye Competition, Mall Galleries, London
The Blue Gallery, London
1997 The Hunting Art Prizes Exhibition, London and Bath
John Moores Liverpool Exhibition 20, Walker Gallery, Liverpool
1998 The City Gallery, Leicester, ‘Animal Tales and Pet Confessions’
Smelik & Stokking Galleries, Den Haag, Netherlands, ‘Miniatures’
1999 The Bruton Street Gallery, London, Summer Exhibition,
Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, ‘Grand Opening Exhibition’
England & Co., London, ‘Continuation’
2000 England & Co. at Art 2000, Business Design Centre, London
Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, ‘Modern Figuration’
2001 England & Co. at Art 2001, Business Design Centre, London
Caldwell Snyder Gallery at Art Miami, Florida, USA
Smelik & Stokking Galleries, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2002 England & Co. at Art 2002, Business Design Centre, London
Old Mutual, London
The Market Gallery, London, ‘Animal’
England & Co. ‘Summer in the City’
Smelik & Stokking Galleries, Den Haag, Joint show with Kevin Hendly
2003 England & Co. at Art 2003, Business Design Centre, London
Smelik & Stokking Galleries, Amsterdam, joint show with Chris Stevens
John Jones, London, Childers Street Studio Artists
2004 England & Co. at Art 2004, Business Design Centre, London.
Smelik & Stokking Galleries, Den Haag,35thAnniversary Exhibition
St. Andrew’s Museum Cathedral Project, PilgrimsExhibition
England & Co. Christmas Exhibition of Gallery Artists
2005 England & Co. at Art 2005, Business Design Centre, London
Smelik & Stokking Galleries, Amsterdam
Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho
2006 Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho, USA.
2007 Galerie Rademakers at Realisme 07 & AAF, Amsterdam & Art Fair ‘S-Hertogenbosch
Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho, USA.
PM Gallery, Ealing, London. ‘Beyond the Narrative’
2008 Galerie Rademakers at Realisme 08 & AAF, Amsterdam
Kowalski Gallery at DACS, London. ‘Romance’
De Queeste Art, Watou, Belgium, ‘Time space & the Other’ with Chris Stevens and Eve Sargent
2009 Galerie Rademakers at Realisme 09, Amsterdam & Art Fair ‘S-Hertogenbosch
Stewart Gallery at Los Angeles Art Show 09 & International Art Fair, Pasadena
De Queeste Art, Quest 21, Brussels, Belgium
Royal Scottish Academy of Arts, Edinburgh, 183rdAnnual Exhibition
2010 Stewart Gallery at Los Angeles Art Show & Art Chicago
Galerie Rademakers at Realisme 10, Amsterdam
Galerie Rademakers at Dutch Art Now, New York (Mar 3-14)
Scion Art Show, Culver City, Los Angeles ‘Palate’
2011 Stewart Gallery at Dallas Art Fair & Chicago Art Fair
Kilmorack Gallery, Beauly, Inverness-shire, Scotland, showing with James Hawkins & Charles MacQueen
2012 Stewart Gallery at Dallas Fair & San Francisco Fine Art Fair @Fort Mason
2013 'The Dark Art Of Humour', Kilmorack Gallery, Beauly, Inverness-shire, Scotland
Stewart Gallery at Dallas Art Fair & Houston Fine Art Fair, Texas, USA
Beaux Arts Bath, Summer Exhibition
Beaux Art Bath at 20/21 British Art Fair, Royal College of Art, London
Beaux Arts at Strarta Art Fair, Saatchi Gallery, London
Royal Scottish Academy of Arts, Edinburgh, 2013 Open Exhibition
Kilmorack Gallery, Beauly, Inverness-shire, Scotland, Winter Exhibition
2014 Stewart Gallery Summer Exhibition
Kilmorack Gallery, Beauly, Inverness-shire, Summer Exhibition
'REALITY, Modern & Contemporary British Painting', Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich
2015 'Realised'exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy of Arts, Edinburgh
'REALITY, Modern & Contemporary British Painting', Walker Gallery, Liverpool
2016 W Gordon Smith Award Exhibition, Dovecot Studios Gallery, Edinburgh
Spring/Summer Show at Kilmorack Gallery, Beauly, Inverness-shire
'Yours Sincerely'at Tatha Gallery, Newport on Tay, Fife, Scotland
2017 Summer Show at Kilmorack Gallery, Beauly, Inverness-shire
More Alchemy'at Tatha Gallery, Newport on Tay, Fife, Scotland
2018 Curiouser and Curiouser Auction, Eccentric Art and Extraordinary Objects, Marion Harris Curator, Rago auction, New York
Kilmorack Gallery, Beauly, Inverness-shire, Scotland,Christmas Exhibition Winter Show', at Tatha Gallery, Newport on Tay, Fife, Scotland
2019 Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize 2019, Mall Galleries, London
Kilmorack Gallery, Beauly, Inverness-shire, Scotland, Winter Exhibition
June22-July27- A Taste of Sparrow, Stone Sparrow NYC, New York
September - Exhibition with Paul Reid, Harry Holland and Robert Macmillan, Fidra Fine Art, Gullane, East Lothian
2020 Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize 2019, Mall Galleries, London
Kilmorack Gallery, Beauly, Inverness-shire, Scotland, Winter Exhibition
Stone Sparrow NYC, ‘Persistence of Time’, February, New York
Stone Sparrow NYC, ‘False Face’, November, New York
December - Mixed Winter Exhibition, Fidra Gallery, Gullane, East Lothian
2021 Art Sablon, September, Brussels Art Square, Brussels, Belgium
Stone Sparrow NYC, ‘Small Works’, December, New York
2022 Art Sablon, Group show, March, Brussels, Belgium
Stone Sparrow NYC, ‘Spring Surreal’, April, Stone Sparrow NYC, New York
Galerie da End, ‘Medusa’, May, Paris, France
KP Projects Gallery, 25th Anniversary Exhibition, August, Los Angeles, California, USA
Note on Collectors
Alan Macdonald’s paintings are in public, private and corporate collections worldwide, including:
EMI, Corinthia Hotel London, Kayley Hong Kong, WorldCom, Old Mutual, Artemis Artforms Leeds, The Prudential, Ampersand Hotel London, Scion Los Angeles.
