Peter McDonald paints people and situations that he comes across in his daily life. Things that the viewers can relate are his subjects. His daily life of seeing, hearing, and feeling gives McDonald some visions.
The idea of communication between two characters are embodied through the large heads overlapping each other. The heads also merge with backgrounds and other subjects that create dissolution of boundaries between people and environment. McDonald considers the background as 'stage' that mirrors the real life. He uses it to play with the composition and colors.
Peter McDonald is a recipient of The John Moores Contemporary Painting Prize in 2008. Currently he divides his time between London and Tokyo. The solo exhibition at 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa was held from September 2011 through March 2012. In Kanazawa, he was inspired by the Noh Theatre and has created a new work on 20 cm x 12m Japanese painting scroll. The story in Noh, that captures different space and time at one swift move, was realized in long and narrow format. The exhibition also consisted of new paintings and drawings as well as large format works in public space.

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