Wallaby II Tim McMonagle Tim McMonagle - Wallaby II
Wallaby II 2017
Wallaby IITim McMonagleWallaby II
Wallaby II2017
oil on linen
101 x 101 cm
SOLD 
Four Strong Winds Tim McMonagle Tim McMonagle - Four Strong Winds
Four Strong Winds 2017
Four Strong WindsTim McMonagleFour Strong Winds
Four Strong Winds2017
oil on linen
137 x 137 cm
SOLD 
Magpies Tim McMonagle Tim McMonagle - Magpies
Magpies 2017
MagpiesTim McMonagleMagpies
Magpies2017
oil on linen
61 x 61 cm
SOLD 
Song With No Words Tim McMonagle Tim McMonagle - Song With No Words
Song With No Words 2017
Song With No WordsTim McMonagleSong With No Words
Song With No Words2017
oil on linen
137 x 137 cm
SOLD 
New Pope Tim McMonagle Tim McMonagle - New Pope
New Pope 2017
New PopeTim McMonagleNew Pope
New Pope2017
oil on linen
61 x 61 cm
SOLD 
Running Dry Tim McMonagle Tim McMonagle - Running Dry
Running Dry 2017
Running DryTim McMonagleRunning Dry
Running Dry2017
oil on linen
137 x 137 cm
SOLD 
Wallaby I Tim McMonagle Tim McMonagle - Wallaby I
Wallaby I 2017
Wallaby ITim McMonagleWallaby I
Wallaby I2017
oil on linen
101 x 101 cm
SOLD 
Shadow Captain Tim McMonagle Tim McMonagle - Shadow Captain
Shadow Captain 2017
Shadow CaptainTim McMonagleShadow Captain
Shadow Captain2017
oil on linen
137 x 137 cm
SOLD 

There is something eerily familiar about the trees that have begun to sprout up in Tim McMonagle’s work in recent times. An artist who has spent almost two decades disseminating human nature’s foibles and absurdities through his whimsical compositions, McMonagle has increasingly found himself compelled to consider the curious lifecycle of our majestic native gums. Already rich with folkloric, religious, and cultural symbolism, trees take on even greater significance in a country such as Australia, where the bush and outback landscapes are so closely intertwined with our national identity. Endlessly diverse in form, character and colour, their broken limbs and struggle for new growth provide McMonagle with the ideal allegory from which to contemplate the complexities of humanity and our connection to environment. Knotted, gnarled, and rather like a surreal Australian version of Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree, they dominate his canvases the way they do the outback, anthropomorphised to appear as the ultimate survivors in an unforgiving landscape. 

But it isn’t solely McMonagle’s unique observations on life and the milieu that makes these works so compelling. Concurrent to his propensity for quirky imagery is a deep and abiding respect for the act of painting. Each canvas is a testament to his commitment to technique and mark making, and the enjoyment he gets from pushing paint around while lost in the creative process. Though an important element of his work, his subject matter becomes less about conveying sentiment than it is a device for capturing attention and luring his audience in. Doggedly devoted to his artistic practice, he rehearses each piece by sketching and drawing his ideas multiple times so as to become intimately acquainted with every line and detail. By the time he is ready to commit to the canvas, he knows the image well enough that he is able to make his brushstrokes appear spontaneous and organically formed. Seen up close, each fragment of the whole could potentially be observed as its own abstracted composition, such is the detail of his work. 

Born in New Zealand, Tim McMonagle has spent the majority of his life working and studying in Melbourne, Australia. Winner of the 2010 Fletcher Jones Art Prize for his work The happy song, he was named a finalist in the 2012 Archibald Prize for his portrait of art collector Michael Buxton, and has twice been amongst the Wynne Prize finalists (2015/16) for this series of tree landscapes. A veteran of over forty solo and group exhibitions, his work is held in major public, private and university collections throughout Australia. 

Carrie McCarthy, July 2016

Tim McMonagle 'New Paintings'

There is something eerily familiar about the trees that have begun to sprout up in Tim McMonagle’s work in recent times. An artist who has spent almost two decades disseminating human nature’s foibles and absurdities through his whimsical compositions, McMonagle has increasingly found himself compelled to consider the curious lifecycle of our majestic native gums. Already rich with folkloric, religious, and cultural symbolism, trees take on even greater significance in a country such as Australia, where the bush and outback landscapes are so closely intertwined with our national identity. Endlessly diverse in form, character and colour, their broken limbs and struggle for new growth provide McMonagle with the ideal allegory from which to contemplate the complexities of humanity and our connection to environment. Knotted, gnarled, and rather like a surreal Australian version of Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree, they dominate his canvases the way they do the outback, anthropomorphised to appear as the ultimate survivors in an unforgiving landscape.

But it isn’t solely McMonagle’s unique observations on life and the milieu that makes these works so compelling. Concurrent to his propensity for quirky imagery is a deep and abiding respect for the act of painting. Each canvas is a testament to his commitment to technique and mark making, and the enjoyment he gets from pushing paint around while lost in the creative process. Though an important element of his work, his subject matter becomes less about conveying sentiment than it is a device for capturing attention and luring his audience in. Doggedly devoted to his artistic practice, he rehearses each piece by sketching and drawing his ideas multiple times so as to become intimately acquainted with every line and detail. By the time he is ready to commit to the canvas, he knows the image well enough that he is able to make his brushstrokes appear spontaneous and organically formed. Seen up close, each fragment of the whole could potentially be observed as its own abstracted composition, such is the detail of his work.

Born in New Zealand, Tim McMonagle has spent the majority of his life working and studying in Melbourne, Australia. Winner of the 2010 Fletcher Jones Art Prize for his work The happy song, he was named a finalist in the 2012 Archibald Prize for his portrait of art collector Michael Buxton, and has twice been amongst the Wynne Prize finalists (2015/16) for this series of tree landscapes. A veteran of over forty solo and group exhibitions, his work is held in major public, private and university collections throughout Australia.

Carrie McCarthy, July 2016

Tim McMonagle

Born 1971, Auckland, New Zealand

Lives and works in Melbourne, Australia

EDUCATION

1990

  • Advanced Certificate Art & Design, Western Metropolitan College of TAFE, Melbourne

1994

  • Bachelor of Fine Art, Victorian College of the Arts, The University of Melbourne

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2024

  • 'Social Studies', LON Gallery, Melbourne

2023

  • 'Silver and Gold', EDWINA CORLETTE, Brisbane

2022

  • 'Melbourne Art Fair', LON Gallery, Melbourne

2021

  • 'Under Time', EDWINA CORLETTE, Brisbane

2019

  • 'Wonderful Things', EDWINA CORLETTE, Brisbane
  • 'Parade of Days', Martin Browne Contemporary, Sydney

2018

  • 'Flocked Smocks', Caves Gallery, Melbourne

2017

  • 'Recent Paintings', EDWINA CORLETTE, Brisbane

2016

  • 'Buangor', STATION, Melbourne

2015

  • 'Vista Drive', Martin Browne Contemporary, Sydney

2013

  • 'Beauty School', KALIMANRAWLINS, Melbourne

2012

  • 'That‘s the style, Mary', KALIMANRAWLINS, Melbourne

2011

  • Rex Irwin Art Dealer, Sydney

2009

  • 'The End Of The Year', Lister Gallery, Perth
  • How On Earth, Murray White Room, Melbourne

2008

  • 'August', Kaliman Gallery, Sydney

2007

  • The Butcher's Table, Crossley & Scott, Melbourne
  • 'One Long Day', Lister Gallery, Perth

2006

  • Kaliman Gallery, Melbourne Art Fair
  • 'Tim McMonagle', Kaliman Gallery, Sydney

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2020

  • Sydney Contemporary, EDWINA CORLETTE

2019

  • 'The New Gallery Show', EDWINA CORLETTE, Brisbane
  • Sydney Contemporary, Martin Browne Contemporary, Sydney

2018

  • 10th Anniversary Exhibition, EDWINA CORLETTE, Brisbane
  • Melbourne Pop Up Exhibition, EDWINA CORLETTE

2016

  • Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales
  • Painting, More Painting, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne

2015

  • Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales

2014

  • 'In the Dust of this Planet', KALIMANRAWLINS, Melbourne
  • 'Liminal Narratives', Bayside Gallery, Brighton, Melbourne

2012

  • Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales

2011

  • First show, KALIMANRAWLINS, Melbourne

2010

  • Fletcher Jones Art Prize, Geelong Gallery, Geelong
  • The Shilo Project, The Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne

2009

  • Group Show: Gallery Artists, Murray White Room, Melbourne
  • Arthur Guy Memorial Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery

2008

  • Group Show, Kaliman Gallery, Sydney

2007

  • Received with thanks: New acquisitions 2001-07, The Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne
  • 'Materiality', Switchback Gallery, Centre for Art and Design, Monash University, Gippsland Campus
  • Monash University Collection: A selection of recent acquisitions, Monash University Museum of Art

2005

  • 'The Spirit of Football', National Gallery of Victoria at Federation Square, Melbourne
  • 'The difference between you and me', The Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne

2004

  • Important Works on Paper, Crossley & Scott, Melbourne
  • 'Siblings', RMIT Project Space, Melbourne

2003

  • The future in all directions, National Gallery of Victoria at Federation Square, Melbourne

2002

  • Crossings: New Art from Australia, Galleria Lume and Gallery Atski, Helsinki
  • 'It’s a beautiful day: New Painting in Australia 2', The Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

AWARDS

2018

  • Finalist, Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales

2016

  • Finalist, Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales

2015

  • Finalist, Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales

2012

  • Finalist, Archibald Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales

2010

  • Winner, Fletcher Jones Art Prize, Geelong Gallery, Geelong

2009

  • Arthur Guy Memorial Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery

COLLECTIONS

Art Gallery of New South Wales
National Gallery of Victoria
University of Queensland Art Museum
Heide Museum of Modern Art
Newcastle Regional Gallery
Wollongong Regional Gallery
Ian Potter Museum of Art
Monash University Museum of Art
Edith Cowan University
RACV
UBS Bank
Macquarie Bank
Artbank
Michael Buxton Collection
John McBride Collection
Joyce Nissan Collection

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

2008

  • Feature, Current: Contemporary Art from Australia and New Zealand, ed. Art & Australia 2007 Catalogue, Materiality, Switchback Gallery, Centre for Art and Design, Monash University
  • Catalogue, Monash University Collection: A selection of recent acquisitions, Monash University Museum of Art

2006

  • Feature, John McDonald, Intimations of mortality, Sydney Morning Herald, Spectrum, 20–21 May, p 17

2005

  • Catalogue, Bala Starr, Stephen Zagala, The difference between you and me, Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne
  • Feature, Chris Beck, The Accidental Artist, The Age, 10 September 2003 Feature, Dominique Angeloro, Crack of dawn, Sydney Morning Herald, Metro, 12–18
  • December, p 26 2002 Feature, Bruce James, True-born child of the lens focuses on modern vision of nature, Sydney Morning Herald,11 December
  • Catalogue, Bala Starr, It’s a beautiful day: New painting in Australia 2, Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne, p 32–33
  • Catalogue, Peter Westwood, Crossing: New Art from Australia, RMIT, Melbourne, p 6–8

July 25, 2023

TIM MCMONAGLE'S PAINTING 'PLAZA' (2005) IS CURRENTLY ON VIEW AT AGNSW

Tim McMonagle's painting ‘Plaza’ 2005 is currently on view at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in the "brick vase clay cup jug" exhibition.

Guest curator Glenn Barkley selected the artworks in 'brick vase clay cup jug' by typing the words of the exhibition title into the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ online collection database, retrieving objects linked only by a word or medium. Unlike the typical approach to making an exhibition, where works are grouped conceptually according to meanings or historical associations, this selection process is non-hierarchical and echoes the random groupings seen in gallery storage. Usually guided by pragmatic considerations – maximising space and access or caring for the collection – these incidental groupings can create inspiring and surprising links between disparate objects, art-handling equipment and exhibition furniture.

Barkley has then taken cues from these search results, either aesthetic or conceptual, to cast a wider net through the collection, creating new connections – many of which are personal, visual, intuitive and emotional – between artworks.

In addition to the 270-plus collection objects, the exhibition also includes a new iteration of The Wonder Room, a house decorated with terracotta tiles made by communities of the Shoalhaven, NSW in a project with Shoalhaven Regional Gallery, Nowra. A video work by Dean Cross, Untitled (self-portrait as water and clay) 2015, on loan to the Art Gallery, is projected inside this space.

Until January 2024

'Plaza' 2005
oil on linen
180 x 180 cm

June 9, 2021

TIM McMONAGLE FINALIST IN THE BAYSIDE ART PRIZE

Established in 2015, the Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize is a celebration of contemporary Australian painting. The finalist exhibition brings together a broad range of artists, both established and lesser known, whose varied approaches to the painted medium conveys the breadth and diversity of painting in Australia today.

The annual prize is an important opportunity for Bayside City Council to add exceptional works of art to its collection and to promote art and artists as a valuable part of the Bayside community.

Tim McMonagle's work 'Put Upon' 2020 is a finalist in this year's prize.

READ MORE HERE

February 10, 2021

TIM McMONAGLE IN LOVELOCK AT GREENWOOD STREET PROJECT

Lovelock is the presentation of a new suite of paintings by Tim McMonagle that have been directly informed by a new suite of sound works, produced for this project by Paul Knight, who is resident in Berlin.

Transference. The change of elemental states. The search for a place not here nor there.

These were our early concepts for the exhibition. Be careful what you wish for. Despite an unpredictable year in all corners of the globe, the original framework for the project is in place: to commission work from one artist to inform the work of the other. The idea & process is elliptical and is revealed over a period of time in three sections.

The fulcrum is a set of paintings by Tim McMonagle. They will be made using source imagery around the idea of “A Place Between / Not here nor there”. We approached Paul Knight in Berlin to create source images generated by this diaristic photographic practice. Then the pandemic happened, and nothing was the same.

In isolation in Berlin, Paul had immersed himself in his music practice, making soundscapes without traditional song structures, using sources completely derived from synthetic sounds: purely electronic space. The fit with the original concept was perfect. We devised a limit of the 12” LP to set the duration of the material. The square of the LP cover echoes Tim’s exclusive canvas ratio, the square.

The six tracks are to be issued as source material to McMonagle for his body of paintings. Tim has always hankered to work with a non-visual source for a group of paintings & this serendipitous outcome has both artists exhilarated by the possibility of extending their practice.

The final part of this work is the unification of the germinal sound work by Paul Knight,

Tim McMonagle’s paintings, and documentation of the exhibition to be presented at Greenwood Street Project in early 2021 in an LP/catalogue.

https://soundcloud.com/user-470862214/sets/lovelock-1

May 22, 2019

TIM McMONAGLE FEATURED IN ARTIST PROFILE MAGAZINE

Tim McMonagle

By Ellinor Pelz

Tim McMonagle intimately confronts both the fragile and robust nature of life. With an obsession for mark-making and the act of painting, he depicts humanised landscapes with whimsical contradictions of impasto and swathing washes. His paintings require a closer inspection, as dangling branches and wailing trees act like entwined torsos to question humanity’s relationship to the environment. Artist Profile spoke to McMonagle in his Melbourne studio for Issue 46.

READ MORE HERE

May 14, 2018

TIM McMONAGLE, FINALIST IN THE 2018 WYNNE PRIZE

Tim McMonagle is a finalist in the 2018 Wynne Prize for landscape painting at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. He says:

'In my painting Shadow captain I was interested in capturing an imagined anthropomorphic nature. In the changing low light of dawn or dusk the large eucalyptus seems to twist and contort, fastened to the ground where it is anchored.' Tim McMonagle, 2018

READ MORE HERE

May 8, 2017

TIM McMONAGLE FINALIST IN THE SUNSHINE COAST ART PRIZE 2017

The Sunshine Coast Art Prize is a national contemporary acquisitive award presented by Sunshine Coast Council. The Award is open to any artist who is an Australian resident, working in a 2D medium.

Forty finalists have been selected for an exhibition at the Caloundra Regional Gallery and the winning work will be added to the Sunshine Coast Art Collection.

Angela Goddard is the judge for the Sunshine Coast Prize 2017. Angela is the Director of Griffith Artworks, responsible for the Griffith University Art Collection and the Griffith University Art Gallery, Brisbane. Angela was previously the Curator of Australian Art at the Queensland Art Gallery I Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA). Winners announced 31 August.

Image: Tim McMonagle | In The Middle | 2016 | oil on linen | 122 x 122 cm

Read more Here.

December 21, 2016

TIM McMONAGLE ON CULTURAL FLANERIE BLOG

Carrie McCarthy has written a thoughtful piece about Tim McMonagle's recent exhibition at Edwina Corlette Gallery for her brilliant blog Cultural Flanerie. The article coincided with Tim's first exhibition at the Gallery which continued his exploration of our majestic native gum trees.

Read the full article here.

October 28, 2016

TIM McMONAGLE IN 'PAINTING, MORE PAINTING' AT AUSTRALIAN CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART

Tim McMonagle's work 'Ken Pearler' recently featured in the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art's exhibition 'Painting. More Painting'.  

Presented in two chapters across ACCA’s four exhibition galleries, Painting. More Painting was a big-picture focus on contemporary Australian painting, featuring the work of over 70 living Australian artists.

Conceived by ACCA Curator Annika Kristensen and Associate Curator Hannah Mathews, and developed in collaboration with ACCA’s new Artistic Director/CEO Max Delany, Painting. More Painting brought together a range of painting practices that reflected the medium’s enduring importance and its recent return to the centre of much public debate.

Read more here.

3 – 24 September 2024
THE SPRING SHOW

7 – 21 December 2023
SMALL WORKS - Click and Collection

9 August 2023 – 5 September 2023
Tim McMonagle ‘Silver and Gold’

8 – 11 September 2022
SYDNEY CONTEMPORARY

3 January 2022 – 1 February 2022
THE SUMMER SALON

23 November 2021 – 15 December 2021
THE ART OF CHRISTMAS | ONLINE ONLY

13 – 31 July 2021
Tim McMonagle ‘Under Time’

26 June 2019 – 17 July 2019
THE NEW GALLERY SHOW — A Group Exhibition

17 May 2019 – 5 June 2019
TIM McMONAGLE 'Wonderful Things'

29 August 2018 – 15 September 2018
THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION

24 October 2017 – 14 November 2017
Tim McMonagle ‘New Paintings’