alice macdonald
London, painter
biography
Alice Macdonald (b.1992) lives in London and works from her studio in North Greenwich. She recently completed an MA in Fine Art at City and Guilds Art School, London (2023). Previously she studied at Falmouth University (2014) and on the Drawing Year at The Royal Drawing School (2017).
Depicting everyday moments and often featuring the people closest to her, Alice’s practice is underpinned by a diaristic practice of drawing the world around her from observation and memory. In the studio Alice riffs off her sketchbook drawings, working instinctively, playing freely with materials, and allowing them to lead the image making process. An image might be repeated many times across different scales and media and with each repetition the image is allowed to evolve and change. She is interested in the boundaries between fact and fiction and the unreliable and subjective nature of memory.
In its final iteration the image is constructed from collaged canvas and distemper. The collage is somewhat clumsy and imprecise, it distorts and disrupts the image – confusing our perception of space, creating unexpected depth and a simultaneous feeling of flatness. Pins are left in the image giving the impression that the image could be easily altered. Alice wants the viewer to be aware that the image is a construction, and it is a rickety one. This echoes the instability of our constructed realities and the fragility of the initial drawn moment.
Alice has exhibited her work widely both in the UK and internationally and she has been awarded several awards and prizes including the CGLAS x ACS studio prize in 2023 and the prestigious Elizabeth Greenshields Grant in 2022.
exhibitions
Academic Qualifications
2022-23 MA Fine Art (1st) City And Guilds Art School, London
2016-17 The Drawing Year (post-graduate diploma, full scholarship) The Royal Drawing School
2011-14 Illustration BA Hons (2:1) Falmouth University
2010-11 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design Oxford Brookes University
Solo and Two Person Exhibitions
2023 Fruit, Birds, Flowers, Trees (solo show) LKIF Gallery, Seoul
2022 The Gentle Vibration Of Things (solo show) curated by Paint Talk, V.O curations, London
2020 Silent Disco Collaborative installation with Mark Connolly at Wells Projects, London
Group Exhibitions
2023 Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair with Oliver Projects, London
2023 Purslane Autumn Fundraiser, online
2023 Ode To Autumn Violet Hour, online
2023 Canal Boat Art Fair, Broadway Market, London
2023 The Summer Exhibition The Royal Academy, London
2023 Power Play Oliver Projects, London
2023 Love And Worry Pound Arts Centre, Corsham
2023 Who Holds The Sword? Hypha Studios, London
2022 The Artist’s Office Party The Amber Room , London
2022 Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair with Oliver Projects, London
2022 Power To Emotion Tart Gallery at Fitzrovia Gallery, London
2022 Omicron Edition Open Call Tini Mini Room, Netherlands
2022 A Well Lived Life curated by Phin Jennings at Drakes, London
2022 Bright Young Things Alex Eagle Studios, London
2022 Women Celebrating Surrealism at Islington Arts Factory, London
2022 Bankley Open 2022, Bankley Studios, Manchester
2022 Royal Watercolour Society Open Bankside Gallery, London
2022 Escape Routes Oliver Projects, London
2022 Dream Baby Dream Curated by Paint Talk, The Fitzrovia Gallery, London
2022 Assemble V.O curations, Conduit Street, London
2022 Carnival of Clouds Jane Trady Fine Art, Online
2021 Dentons Art Prize, Dentons, London
2021 Paint Talk Open Call, With Love II online show
2021 Art On A Postcard Winter Auction Soho Revue, London
2021 We Are Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made On Aleph Contemporary at The Cello Factory, London
2021 Ruth Borchard Self Portrait prize Long list, online show
2021 Notes From The Big Screen The Narrow Gallery, London
2021 A Small Good Thing online show curated by Sam Luke Heath,
2021 Life On Venus (part II and III) The Tub, Hackney, Live auction via the Auction Collective
2020 The Amber Room II curated by Rosie Reed
2020 Hung Up curated by All Mouth Gallery, The Tub, London
2020 The Just curated by Dan Coombs for Aleph Contemporary
2019 A High Hang curated by Christabel McGreevy, Arebyte Project Space, London
2019 if you know, you know Arebyte Project Space at Eccleston Place, London
2019 The Summer Exhibition The Royal Academy of Arts, London
2019 Sugar Shilpa Espacio Gallery, London
2018 The Beep Painting Prize Elysium Gallery, Swansea
Awards and Residencies
2023 Awarded the ACS x CGLAS Studio Residency Prize
2023 Awarded the Skinners Company Stephen Gooden Prize for Engraving
2022 Awarded The Elizabeth Greenshields Grant
2022 Recipient of The Young Artist Award, Royal Watercolour Society Open
2021 Painting Residency, Dumfries House, Scotland
2021 Shortlisted for The Dentons Art Prize
2021 Longlisted for the Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize
2020 Awarded Arts Council Emergency Funding for individuals
2020 Shortlisted for The Sequested Prize
2019 Painting Residency, Dumfries House, Scotland
2018 Teaching Artist in Residence at The Institute of Fine Arts, Modinagar, India
2017 Awarded the Rhode Island School of Design Residency Prize
2017 Recipient of The Great Art Prize at the National Original Print Exhibition 2017.
2015-16 Artist in Residence (Ceramics) at Lyndons Arts Trust, London
2014 Artist in Residence (Printmaking) at the Scuola Graphica Internazionale, Venice
Collections
The Royal Collection, The Mauritz-Hyman Collection, private collections in the UK and internationally.
