Max MacDonald MaxWyrx Inc.
painting
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I've always been into the visual arts but primarily I am a painter and have been working in that medium for the past 30 years. Colour
and texture have long compelled me. Over the years I've worked in oils and dabbled in mixed media like plaster and painted objects,
but principally my work involves acrylic paint on canvas and wooden panel. I am influenced by the American school of abstract
expressionism but I am also an admirer of Tom Thomson, the Canadian Group of Seven and many other painters; Turner for his
spectacular skies and sublime feeling for light... Hans Hoffman and Jean-Paul Riopelle for the sheer physical vivacity of their paint
handling; Emily Carr and Doris McCarthy for their persistent dedication to the majesty and mystery of nature. But I'm also intrigued by
how contemporary media technologies, together with the mechanics and ethos of advertising, have made their stamp on our collective
consciousness.
Many of my subjects reference what I tend to think of as "internal landscapes" and riff on the quasi-mystical properties of the natural
world. That said, I'm also interested in figurative work as well as the psychological and emotional aspects of colour. For myself,
painting doesn't provide definitive answers so much as it poses interesting questions.
My most recent solo painting show in a gallery space was at GAS, in April 2012. Currently you can see fifteen of my works in the flesh
on the walls of Le Papillion On The Park, in Leslieville. I also show in another local foodie shrine, Fare Bistro. Finally, I've just hung
Unless stated otherwise, the works depicted here are acrylic/mixed media on wooden panels; dimensions as given are approximations.
Art department and set decorator types take note: I also rent my work to film & television productions here in the GTA.