Emerging Artist: Conor McGrady

by pmaxwell, 1 July 2008

Conor McGrady, "Silent Forest", 2006

Conor McGrady's work, which primarily consists of painting and drawing, is focused on the role of authority in contemporary society, in particular how power manifests itself in individuals and nation states and how it translates into iconography, actions and a sense of self and place. His work as a whole is based on situations of civil unrest and military control, largely drawing on, but not confined to, his experience growing up in Northern Ireland.

Conor McGrady, "Constable II", 2006

His recent work explores urban and rural terrain along with figurative compositions often involving uniformed subjects. The rural landscapes examine the duality implicit in areas that are repositories of romantic ideal and yet contain hidden threats. In the drawings of urban areas neo-classicism is referenced as an architecture of imagined order, stability and permanence. While the figurative compositions and portraits directly reference the history of portrait painting, in particular the works of Velasquez and Goya. The aim of these works is to explore the various manifestations of social order and raise questions relating to the control of space, personal and national boundaries.

Conor McGrady, "Monument", 2008

Conor studied at the University of Northumbria, Newcastle, UK, before receiving his MFA at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1998. Most recently his work has been exhibited in the one-person exhibitions, ‘Green & Pleasant Land’ at Saltworks Gallery and ‘New Arcadia’ at M.Y. Art Prospects. In 2002 he was selected to participate in the Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. In 2003 he completed a five-month residency in the Woolworth Building, New York, through the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Studio Program. He currently lives and works in New York and is represented by Saltworks Gallery in Atlanta.

Conor McGrady, artist