Born in Scotland in 1973, Mac McNaughton grew up in Glasgow where he immersed himself in the West End scene of the 1990s. He was involved with Postcard Records and wrote lyrics for James Kirk (Orange Juice) debut solo album “You Can Make It If You Boogie” as well as designing record sleeves and merchandise for various bands and labels.
Mac made the decision to start painting after seeing the Jean Cocteau mural in the Notre Dame de France. Mac received a First-Class Honours degree in Painting from Camberwell College of Arts in 2019 and afterwards continued his studies with the Contemporary Art Academy.
Still heavily influenced by the music and cinema of his formative years, Mac has recently moved to a studio in rural Cambridgeshire. He works with oils and watercolours to create images which are both epic and intimate. His work recently featured in the Delta Gamma exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery.
Mac’s work explores the uncanny and the appropriation of filmic qualities in painting as a device for both personal and collective memory. He welcomes the viewer to inhabit his paintings.