With recent solo exhibitions hosted by Kate MacGarry in East London and Gallery Side 2 in Tokyo (both in 2021), Peter McDonald is internationally celebrated for his cheerful visions of our world. Painting the people and situations he encounters in his day-to-day life, the artist explains, ‘inspiration could come from anywhere - a photo in the newspaper, the tone of someone's voice on the bus, seeing a certain colour on a billboard. Seeing, hearing, feeling - all this gives you a way into some sort of vision.’ i
Executed in 2010, Blue Zazen transports viewers into the warm and welcoming interior of a traditional Japanese washitu household featuring fusuma sliding doors that open onto a serene landscape scene. A royal blue form is situated at the centre of the composition which appears abstract at first glance, however takes on the silhouette of a figure in lotus pose when considered in relation to ‘Zazen’ bring a form of Zen meditation. Rendered with simple shapes and bright colours that bring to mind the work of David Hockney, the intimately scaled painting is a captivating example of McDonald’s instantly comprehensible visual language.
Born in Tokyo in 1973, McDonald now lives and works in London and Tokyo. In 2008, the artist was awarded the John Moores Painting Prize for a work titled Fontana, and in 2017, he was awarded a fellowship at the British School at Rome. His top result at auction was recently achieved in Hong Kong when a work titled Fencing hammered down in November 2021 for an impressive HK$1,008,000 Premium, against pre-sale estimates of HK$160,000 - 260,000.