Kick Gallery: CRAIG MACDONALD
Posted: November 30th, 2011 | Author: Michael Courtenay | Filed under: ART, Art News, Artist, Gallery Opening, Kick Gallery, Melbourne, Sculptor, STANDOUT | Tags: Craig MacDonald, Kick Gallery, Memento, Montalto Sculpture Prize, STANDOUT | Comments Off
Award winning sculptor Craig MacDonald has a show running at Kick Gallery ‘Memento‘ This latest show follows on from his 2010 exhibition ‘Rocket Science‘. Mr MacDonald works are standout, his works live so well in three dimensions it’s hard to flatten the descriptives to words, except perhaps to say wow, they are seriously inspired. His use of bronze is cleverly hidden by an overlay of pure originality. Each piece in this show is so filled with imagination and exquisite craft that one finds several views are still not adequate. MacDonalds’ show runs until December 10.
In February this year, MacDonald was awarded the Montalto Sculpture Prize. MacDonald received the $20,000 award ahead of a strong field of other significant recognised Australian sculptors. The winning work ‘Witness’ was described by Montalto as “‘Hovering just above the surface of the ground, Witness appears as if from another time – aged and totem like, its presence and movement is a reminder that time is not static and what has been seen before can be witnessed again” Witness is on display at the ‘Memento‘ exhibition.
ABOVE: 'Witness' MacDonalds' Award Winning Piece
Craig MacDonald
Kick Gallery
Memento
Exhibition runs November 22 – December 10 2011
Craig MacDonald is an observer of the world who collects images in his mind, reinterprets his amalgam of thoughts into drawings, and then ultimately realizes his ideas in bronze sculpture. With a sharp sense of wit and a playful sense of humour, MacDonald makes social and political commentary through each individual work he produces.
In his most recent series, MacDonald has continued to create works that are aesthetically beautiful and technically outstanding while still imbuing in his work his wry look at the world. As MacDonald explains, This show is a journey that has no beginning or end but is a collection of objects, Mementos, each with their own story. By putting aside a central theme MacDonald has allowed himself to revel in the process of object making. Again, as MacDonald explains, As an artist I have an interest in the process of object making – I always start with the intention of being able to hold something in my hands at the end of the process.
Craig MacDonald first started working in bronze in the late 1980’s in the studio of acclaimed New Zealand sculptor Paul Dibble. He has exhibited his works at numerous award, solo and group exhibitions and his work is held in private and corporate collections in Australia and overseas. As the Master Founder at the Garage Art Foundry in Elphinstone, Central Victoria, Craig works with artists from all over Australia to realize their sculpture through the process of bronze casting. Earlier this year MacDonald won the Montalto Sculpture Prize. An acquisitive award with a prize of $20,000, MacDonald came first with his work titled Witness [2011].
