Alexander McKenzie (artist) explained

Alexander McKenzie
Birth Date:1971
Birth Place:Sydney, Australia
Nationality:Australian
Field:Painting, contemporary art
Training:Julian Ashton Art School
Works:20 solo exhibitions in both Australia and the United Kingdom since 1996
Website:Alexander McKenzie

Alexander McKenzie (born 1971 in Sydney) is an Australian contemporary artist.

Biography

The son of Scottish migrants, McKenzie knew he would become a painter from the earliest years and had his own purpose-built art studio at home from the age of eleven.[1] After starting out at City Art Institute, now called (COFA) University of New South Wales College of Fine Arts, he dropped out, citing that he wasn't interested in exploring many other disciplines, he just wanted to get on with painting.[2] Shortly after leaving City Art Institute he won the Brett Whiteley Scholarship to study at the Julian Ashton Art School, graduating in 1994.[3] Between 1995 and 2002 he studied and travelled throughout England, Ireland, France, Scotland and Italy.[4]

Landscapes

His landscape paintings have been described as "aesthetically reminiscent of 15th century Dutch Masters – with contemporary motifs... reflecting the human journey that transpires time and place."[5] "...cinematic in the same way that the works of painters such as Caspar David Friedrich or Eugene von Guerard speak across the centuries to a contemporary visual imagination."[6] His work has been part of solo and group exhibitions in Australia, Hong Kong, Scotland, Ireland and the United States and is part of corporate and private collections across the globe.[7]

In 2013 he was commissioned by the Australian War Memorial to paint a ten by three-metre background as part of the World War I centenary commemorations. The diorama depicts the 1918 Battle of Semakh that unfolded on the Sea of Galilee's southern shore in the last months of the Sinai and Palestine campaign.[8] This new background (originally painted by Louis McCubbin in 1926 -1927)[9] is a continuation of a vision first outlined by the memorial's founder Charles Bean back in 1918, where in a letter to memorial director John Treloar, he insisted that the dioramas not be just a purely didactic display – "not a sort of Noah’s ark model… but a real picture, with the atmosphere, the gradations of shade and colour, the feeling of the scene, created by an artist".[10]

He is a finalist eight times of the Wynne Prize held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Portraits

Although he is known internationally as a landscape artist, he is also a finalist six times of the Archibald Prize, regarded by many as the most important portraiture prize in Australia.[19]

And a finalist twice of the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize.

References

  1. Web site: Australian Art Review Alexander McKenzie: Always a painter by Annemarie Lopez . 11 June 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181020203420/http://artreview.com.au/contents/11264611-alexander-mckenzie-always-a-painter . 20 October 2018 . dead .
  2. Web site: Archived copy . 11 June 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181020203420/http://artreview.com.au/contents/11264611-alexander-mckenzie-always-a-painter . 20 October 2018 . dead .
  3. Web site: Lino Magazine Issue No.6, 2004 Brian Staveley, Elizabeth Sarks . 11 June 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180309221454/http://alexandermckenzie.com.au/media_page_lino_2004.html . 9 March 2018 . dead .
  4. Web site: ALEXANDER McKENZIE : About . 11 June 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130605042244/http://www.alexandermckenzie.com.au/about.html . 5 June 2013 . dead .
  5. Web site: Alexander McKenzie: Arboretum Art Almanac . www.art-almanac.com.au . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120611144707/http://www.art-almanac.com.au/2012/04/alexander-mckenzie-arboretum/ . 2012-06-11.
  6. Web site: Australian Art Collector Issue No.49, 2009 Andrew Frost . 11 June 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130410084629/http://alexandermckenzie.com.au/media_page_AAC_2009.html . 10 April 2013 . dead .
  7. http://www.martinbrownefineart.com/cv_mckenzie.html Martin Browne Fine Art – Alexander Mckenzie Collections.
  8. Web site: Alexander McKenzie War Memorial mural depicts key battle. 19 October 2014.
  9. Web site: Semakh Diorama | Australian War Memorial.
  10. Web site: Editorial .
  11. Web site: Archibald Prize Wynne 2014 work: Man moves mountain by Alexander McKenzie .
  12. Web site: Archibald Prize Wynne 2012 work: The island is a mighty fortress by Alexander McKenzie .
  13. Web site: Archibald Prize Wynne 2011 work: Firestarter by Alexander McKenzie .
  14. Web site: Wynne Prize finalists 2010 | Art Gallery of NSW .
  15. Web site: Wynne Prize finalists 2008 | Art Gallery of NSW .
  16. Web site: Wynne Prize finalists 2007 | Art Gallery of NSW .
  17. Web site: Wynne Prize finalists 2006 | Art Gallery of NSW .
  18. Web site: Wynne Prize finalists 2005 | Art Gallery of NSW .
  19. http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/archibald-wynne-sulman-prizes-2013/ Australia's most extraordinary event
  20. Web site: Archibald Prize Archibald 2013 work: Toni Collette by Alexander McKenzie .
  21. Web site: Archibald Prize Archibald 2011 work: Richard Roxburgh by Alexander McKenzie .
  22. Web site: Archibald Prize Archibald 2010 work: Andrew Upton by Alexander McKenzie .
  23. Web site: Archibald Prize Archibald 2009 work: Richard Clapton by Alexander McKenzie .
  24. Web site: Archibald Prize Archibald 2008 work: Sarah Blasko by Alexander McKenzie .
  25. Web site: Archibald Prize Archibald 2007 work: McLean Edwards by Alexander McKenzie .
  26. Web site: 2014 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize - finalists | Moran Prizes . 24 June 2015 . 20 May 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150520043522/http://www.moranprizes.com.au/competition/2014-doug-moran-national-portrait-prize/finalists . dead .
  27. Web site: Doug Moran National Portrait Prize 2012 Finalists | Moran Prizes. moranprizes2012.com.au . https://web.archive.org/web/20120728043105/http://moranprizes2012.com.au/doug-moran-national-portrait-prize-2012-finalists/ . 28 July 2012.

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