Rob McDonald

Bio

On graduating Rob worked between commissioned projects and self-initiated projects to curating and exhibiting his work. Working with high profile publishing and advertising groups to international arts organisations and Universities.

His work combines both graphic sensibilities of a visual narrative through complex structured images generated through silkscreen, collaged paintings and assemblages whilst building an interaction between colour and mark making. The work often takes the form of visual mapping, documenting journeys both physical and metaphysical, from documenting geographical and cultural differences to pictorial accounts and events DMG WW1.

https://artistsww1.uk/artists/rob-mcdonald-and-tania-mccormack/

His work also attempts to map our social conditioning which controls our values of taste, aesthetics, and judgements, by using simple graphic forms and images of everyday life as cultural sources. His work is built up through drawing, photography and found images developed through print and installation, building an underlying network of form, structure and interlinking compositions.

Rob often uses the book as a vehicle to comprise his ideas and outcomes. He is interested in the book as an object, its tactile form, its playful nature, the way a viewer interacts with it, developing ideas through examining what a book can be or represent, from illustrative narrative to sculptural forms. Exploring and researching different print processes embracing analogue to digital, digital to analogue and investigating printable materials, different binding processes and structures. 

This has been Rob’s main research practice over the last Ten years; forming Container Arts Collective http://containerartcollective.tumblr.com.

Rob curated, All Inked Up, a UCA Research funded programme and event, its principal function and outcome was an enquiry into the notion of the artist book. It composed of an international artist book and print event spread over two venues: the Herbert Read Gallery, UCA Canterbury, and The Brewery Tap Gallery, Folkestone.

The event comprised of over 100 artists, universities, studios and galleries, including internationally recognised book artists from Japan, South Korea, Spain, Norway, Holland, Germany, Portugal, Ireland, as well as the UK. A symposium at The Cragg Lecture Theatre of Ten artists, practitioners and academics debated what constitutes the ‘artists’ book’ and what the function of the ‘artists’ book’ is within an artist’s and a designer’s practice. The event culminated with an exhibition (Unbound) at Herbert Read Gallery, UCA Canterbury. (Unbound) featured five internationally acclaimed artists including Rob. The events purpose was to build the audience’s awareness of the Artist Book as a primary medium and method in artistic practice and introduce the broad possibilities that the book format covers.

Rob has been working in collaboration with other Artist’s and Universities in his research into the book form. Exhibiting his own work and curating work of other UCA tutors and students at internationally recognized events, LAB Whitechapel, BABE, PAGES Leeds International Artists Book Event and PRINTed Barcelona.

He has given Lectures on his practice as a book Artist at the ICA and Llotja University and was a judge for ARTLILBRE Barcelona /Porto International Student award. 

Rob’s work is in collections at The British Library. The Tate, UCA Libraries, John Moore’s University, UAL Libraries, Plymouth University Library and Turner Contemporary.

Notable commissions from advertising, media and publishing groups (J. Walter Thompson Advertising, The B.B.C. Random House Publishing, Vintage Publishing).  DAD Dover Arts Development DMG WW1 Project. To successful collaborative group shows (Bank) and (Generate) Turner Contemporary Margate to independent exhibitions.