by Fintan Magee

Fintan Magee is a Sydney based social realist painter, specializing in large-scale murals. Born in 1985 in Lismore, New South Wales, to an architect mother and father who was a sculptor, he started drawing at a young age. His earlier large-scale paintings often inhabited the isolated, abandoned and broken corners of the city, and today are found all over the world including in London, Vienna, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Moscow, Rome, Jordan, and Dublin amongst others.

Magee’s practice is informed by a profound interest in political murals, inspired by exposure at a young age to those of his Father’s native Northern Ireland. This is reflected in the socialist nature of his public artworks, which combine journalistic elements with public art. Magee’s work is driven by his recognition of the power of murals to communicate political and social viewpoints and thus divide or unite communities.

Drawing from personal experience and the mundane, his figurative paintings are deeply integrated with the urban environment and explore themes of diversity, migration and transition, waste and consumption, loss, and the environment. His works exude an inherent sentimentality and softness influenced by children’s books and the Low Brow art movement.

In recent years, Magee has solidified his position as one of Australia’s leading public artists and has traveled extensively, completing projects in countries across the world. Some of the most recent project of note include his work in a refugee camp in Jordan in 2017; and his solo exhibition ‘Waves’ at Mathgoth Gallery in Paris. In 2016, his solo exhibition ‘Water World’, at Backwoods Gallery in Melbourne; and a series of works on abandoned silos in Patchewollock, Victoria and both murals and a gallery installation for Tauranga Art Gallery, NZ, for the Paradox Festival. He is presently preparing for a solo exhibition in Los Angeles.

Follow him on instagram: @fintan_magee