Phillip McKay
Growing up in a river bushland on the North West of Tasmania, the landscape was all. A place of fun and exercise, walking up the hill, riding the bike along the river. Swimming in the summer. Fishing in the winter. A place of quiet reverence, connection and wonder. A safe place. A place to mirror and project onto - a place to pour emotions and settle the mind.
Aligned with his thoughts, ideas and values, his artworks straddle representation, fantasy and abstraction in an attempt to communicate his messages, provoke a feeling, or simply capture the beauty.
McKay’s concern for many years now, has been the impacts of climate change. Bushfire, scorched earth and dried up river banks are reoccurring motif through many of his works. He has also tackled issues such as war, Palestine and Australia’s First Nation people. In 2005 he won the MONA Scholarship and produced his “Silent and Sorry” exhibition. This was McKay’s attempt to apologise, reconcile and acknowledge guilt for the whitefella’s murder, oppression, dispossession, theft and slavery of this land’s First Peoples.
McKay graduated from UTAS School of Art in 1999, though he has been drawing and painting ever since he was a young child. He has worked as an artist painting sets and murals for various companies and organisations around Australia and in Europe.
He has also spent many years using art to work with people in prison, people with mental health issues and young people.
He is currently the gallerist at the Hobart Art Gallery and artist in residence at the Hotel Grand Chancellor where he also runs an art school, bringing the joy of painting to the people.
Academic Qualifications/Training
1999 Bachelor of Fine Arts, School of Art, Hobart, 1999
2004 Respecting Cultures – Aboriginal Arts Advisory Committee
2003 Young Offenders: “Including the Arts” – Arts England and Justice Board - Tate Modern
2002 Artists in Schools, Bow Arts Trust, London UK
Solo Exhibitions
Current - Hobart Art Gallery
2018 “So It Did Warm Up”
Henry Jones Art Hotel
2005 ‘Silent and Sorry” MONA
1999 ‘Future Memories’
Sidespace Gallery SAC
1998 ‘Stripes and Squares’
Entrepot
1997 ‘Immaculate Conceptions’
The Wilderness Gallery
Group Exhibition
1999 ‘Flicker’
Entrepot
1997-98 Contemporary Art Services Tasmania (CAST)
1997 ‘Eight by Eight’
Dunce Gallery
1996 ‘Kissing the Blue Tongue’ Long Gallery
Awards, Grants and Commissions
2017 Pro Hart Outback Art Prize (Finalist)
2015 Doug Moran Portrait Prize (Finalist)
2005 MONA The Scholarship (Winner)
1991 Mossman Art Prize Sydney (Finalist)
1983 ANZ Bank Art Prize (Winner)
2003 Arts England Grant
2003 The Park Night Club Design UK
2002 Arts England Grant
2001 European Funding Scheme Urban Graffiti Project UK
1997 St. Ives Hotel, Club Surreal, Night Club Design
1991 Sydney City Council, ‘Teen Rage Mural’
Bibliography
Tim Martain: The Scholarship,
The Mercury, May 2004
Jeorg Andersch: Future Memories,
The Mercury, July 1999
Margaretta Pos: Streetwise Artist,
The Mercury, July 1999
Jeorg Andersch: Flicker,
The Mercury, Nov. 1999
Jeorg Andersch: Stripes and Squares,
The Mercury, 1998
Jeorg Andersch: Dexterity and Daring, The Mercury, 1997
Professional History
2011 Artist: Urban Smarts Projects - Art Projects working with people from Risdon Prison and Headway
2004 Community Artist: Glenorchy City Council/Scobies Mural –Working with at-risk youth
2001-03 Art Therapy: Youth Offending Team, UK
2003 Art Teacher: Cambridge University. UK (Teaching artists how to work with at risk youth)
2000-01 Art Teacher: Goldhay Arts Group, Cambridgeshire, UK (Disabilities)
1996-98 Art Teacher: Risdon Prison, Hobart, Tas
1992-93 Artist: Artwork Decorations, Sydney
1995 Artist: ‘Painting A Brighter Picture’, Community Art Project working with young people
1994 Artist: Half-Twist Design, Hobart
1991-92 Artist: Designed Events, Sydney
Curatorial
2020 Hobart Art Gallery
2001 The Millenium Show, Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery, UK
Collections
MONA
Office of the Governor, Government House, Hobart
Private Collections:
London, New York, Berlin, Amsterdam, Germany, Tokyo, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Hobart
The Meaning of Light - Phillip McKay
Drawing the Light