Melbourne Leader February 15 2010

Stonnington Leader February 16 2010

Andrew McIlroy | ArtsHub | 17 February 2010

SBS radio interview with Andrew McIlroy

The Australian 8 February 2010

Against The Tide (media kit)

Plunge essay by Brenda Colahan 2009

Art Insight July - August 2009

Mosman Daily 27 August 2009

Art Equity, Plunge 13 - 28 August 2009

Art Insight February 2009

Australian Art Collector Feb 2009

Australian Art Collector Jan 2009

Art Insight September 2008

Exhibition - Lumière

Art Insight August 2008

Breaking Light

Andrew McIlroy 'Breaking Light'

"This is what a picture should give us ... an abyss in which the eye is lost, a secret germination, a coloured state of grace ... loose consciousness. Descend with the painter into the dim tangled roots of things, and rise again from them in colours, be steeped in the light of them."

Paul Cezanne

In Breaking Light, Andrew McIlroy has created a series of potent cloudscapes that convey the type of emotional intensity and immediacy usually associated with modern abstraction through surprisingly traditional means.

Employing the methodical glazing technique of the Dutch tradition, McIlroy achieves the density and depth of his clouds through a meticulous and labour-intensive layering of transparent glazes, rather than a quick application of a single dense film of opaque paint. Simultaneously, he's managed to produce almost weightless pictures that evoke the ethereal and amorphous qualities of the fleeting moments which characterise the natural world - light breaking through a storm cloud, or smoke rising off a firebreak.

While the artistic method for achieving this effect is extremely time-consuming - according to McIlroy there are "many, many hours in each work and the process truly requires the patience of a saint" - it is only through this uncompromising technique that the artist believes he is able to achieve his goal of capturing for the viewer an authentic experience of being in the landscape rather than providing us with merely an accurate representation of it. Accordingly, we become active participants rather than passive observers in relation to these works - drawn in by the atmospheric vortex of the painting which the artist achieves through a deft manipulation of the tonal values of a narrow palette.

McIlroy's commitment to such a methodical artistic practice has paid off recently with a series of sell-out shows in both Sydney and Melbourne. In his latest works, this artist again achieves his aim of producing works of art with modern resonance that nevertheless remain faithful to the tradition of the Masters. As he says: "I hope to make people pause for just a moment. My inspiration is simple. To create a beautiful contemporary painting which is tangible, enduring and familiar to the viewer … without reacting against European influences or composition."

Carrie Miller
Feature Arts Writer
Sydney, 2008

To view New Release click the recent paintings link from main menu.

Artist's head in the clouds ...

Breaking Light Catalogue 2008

Australian Art Collector 2008

Diffusions of Light

'Diffusions of Light' 2007, Art Equity Gallery, Sydney

In relation to the aims of McIlroy's work generally, his latest exhibition represents a significant achievement. Specifically, McIlroy's commitment to transposing what is inherently valuable in traditional, European modes of painting technique and re-applying these in a contemporary, Australian context has produced work that unashamedly adheres to universal notions of beauty and yet resonates with a uniquely Australian sense of place and experience.

As the name suggests, Diffusions of Light is a series of work which takes the play of light as its subject matter, albeit in two senses: both as a representation of the natural elements of the external world, and as fundamental to the artistic possibilities inherent in the traditional realm of painting.

Form and content work to synergistic effect in McIlroy's hands through an intricate, labour-intensive process of the glazing painting method commonly associated with Titian but more immediately recognisable, certainly in relation to McIlroy's most recent paintings, in the seascapes of Turner for example. The remarkable effect of this laborious style, which involves numerous applications of glaze and essentially a building up of translucent layers, is that the most successful of these images appears effortless.

His utilisation of this technique, exemplified by his capacity to manipulate tone beautifully within a narrow field of colour, results in images freed from the weight of the very materiality from which they emerge. Significantly, it is an approach that allows McIlroy to successfully move away from representational to more impressionistic imagery without diluting the visual impact or cultural significance of his dream-like depictions of the Australian landscape.

These are not prescriptive, representational images that require our sense memory to conform to them in order to romanticise nature. Instead, they are, in true impressionistic spirit, open-ended and dynamic, capable of being folded into the singular consciousness of the viewer and their own cultural experience. In short, McIlroy's paintings are sensual images in the true sense: they elicit the type of visual pleasure that results only from an authentically embodied, temporal experience.

With this latest exhibition McIlroy confirms his position as an artist of considerable talent and quality. As such, his work is highly regarded and very collectable as both an immediate and long-term investment.

Carrie Lumby
Feature Arts Writer
Sydney, 2007

To view New Release click the recent paintings link from main menu.

Australian Art Collector

Art Insight June 2007

Village Voice 2007

Art Insight May 2007

Art Insight October 2006

Art Insight September 2006

Art Insight August 2006

Art Insight II May 2006

ARTIST PROFILE by Carrie Lumby Sydney 2005

Andrew McIlroy capturing his view of Prince Henry at Little Bay

Andrew McIlroy at Little Bay, Landcom publication