SHONA MCDONALD
IMAGES
BIO

Born: 1969 in Aberdeen, Scotland
Lives and works in Western Massachusetts

EDUCATION
1996 M.F.A. Degree, Studio Art, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL
1991 B.F.A. Honors Degree, Painting, Glasgow School of Art, Scotland

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2007 Shift, d.e.n. contemporary art, Culver City, CA
2006 Topamnesia, Herter Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
2005 Shona Macdonald: Inscape, Gahlberg Gallery, College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, IL [catalog]
Shona Macdonald: Inscape Paintings, Skestos Gabriele Gallery, Chicago, IL
Shona Macdonald: Inscape Drawings, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL
2003 Terrain, Julie Baker Fine Art, Grass Valley, CA
2000 Shona Macdonald, Project Room, Fassbender Gallery, Chicago, IL
1998 Shona Macdonald: New Work, Fassbender Gallery, Chicago, IL

TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2002 Shona Macdonald: Envelopes and Isles, Galerie Refugium, Berlin, Germany (with Patrick McGee)
Shona Macdonald & Molly Briggs: Works on Paper, Riverside Arts Center, Riverside, IL
Shona Macdonald & LJ Douglas, University of Alberta Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Confluence, Julie Baker Gallery, Sacramento, CA (with Ray Charles White)

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2007 The Uncertainty Principle: Drawing in the Golden Age of Worry, Northern Illinois University Art Gallery, DeKalb, IL
Extended Visits, Skestos Gabriele Gallery, Chicago, IL
2006 Paper, Skestos Gabriele Gallery, Chicago, IL
The Luster of Silver: Contemporary Silverpoint Drawings, Telfair Art Museum, Savannah, GA
Land Escape, River East Arts Center, Chicago, IL [catalog]
COMA 1, Coma Gallery, Chicago, IL
2005 Into the Woods, Thomas McCormick Gallery, Chicago, IL
Invisible Worlds, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL
Groundwork, d.e.n. contemporary art, Culver City, CA
Drawing Project, Stray Show, Chicago, IL
Drawn Out, Gallery 400, Chicago, IL
Into the Midst, Mixture Contemporary, Houston, TX
The Promised Land, Wendy Cooper Gallery, Chicago, IL
2004 Den Nya Framtidsvetenskapen (The New Science Fiction), Lisa Boyle Gallery, Chicago, IL
Summer Drawings and Some are Not, Mixture Gallery, Houston TX
Drawing Project: Chicago/London, The Stray Show, Chicago, IL
Displacement, Gescheildle, Chicago, IL [catalog, essay by John Brunetti]
Under Run, Dogmatic, Chicago, IL
Lazy Days, Julie Baker Fine Art, Grass Valley, CA
2003 PAINTINGS!, Central Michigan University Art Gallery, Mt. Pleasant, MI [catalog, essay by Buzz Spector]
So Square, McLean County Arts Center, Bloomington, IL
Faculty Biennial, Illinois State University, Normal, IL
Travelogue, Green Studios, Mineral Point, WI
2002 Topography, Northeastern Illinois University Art Gallery, Chicago, IL
Postcards from the Edge, McLean County Arts Center, Bloomington, IL
2001 Faculty Biennial, University Galleries, Illinois State University, Bloomington, IL
Bakers Dozen, Julie Baker Gallery, Grass Valley, CA
By the Foot, NIU Gallery, Chicago, IL
Summer Group Show, Fassbender Gallery, Chicago, IL
2000 Surface Tensions, Spaces, Cleveland, OH
Intonations, ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL [catalog, essay by John Brunetti]
Brief Encounters, British Artists Abroad, Platform, Melbourne, Australia
Thin Line, I-Space, Chicago, IL [essay by Tim Porges]
Recycle, McLean County Arts Center, Bloomington, IL
The Mark Applied, Cardinal Stritch University Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
Snapshot, Contemporary Museum, Baltimore, MD [CD-Rom Catalogue]
1999 Thirty times 15" x 15”, Fassbender Gallery, Chicago, IL
Faculty Biennial, University Galleries, Illinois State University, Bloomington, IL
Emergence, The Three Arts Club, Chicago, IL [essay by Stephanie Skestos]
It Looks Easy: A Cross-Section of Painting in Chicago, Gallery 400, Chicago, IL
Otherville, University Gallery, Illinois State University, Bloomington, IL
1998 Link: 22 Painters, Jan Cicero Gallery, Chicago, IL
Substance: A Corporeal Investigation, NIU Gallery, Chicago, IL [essay by Julie Charmello]
1997 The Twenty Five Dollar Show, Beret Gallery, Chicago, IL
Works on Paper, Riverside Arts Center, Riverside, IL
1996 The Fourth Floor, 118 North Peoria, Chicago, IL
Mid-States Annual, Evansville Museum of Art, Evansville, IN
Summer Group Show, Fassbender Gallery, Chicago, IL
Shona Macdonald/Karen Ruby Brown, Gallery 400, Chicago, IL
1995 South Central, Link Gallery, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL
1993 16th Annual Purchase Award Show, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL Risk, Vergette Gallery, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL
1992 Pacesetters, Peterborough Art Gallery, Peterborough, England
1990 Scholarship Exhibition, Hospitalfield Residency, Hospitalfield House, Arbroath, Scotland
1988 Paisley Drawing Competition, Paisley Museum and Art Gallery, Paisley, Scotland

BIBLIOGRAPHY
2007 art ltd., “d.e.n. contemporary art,” Pulse, November
New American Paintings, Book #68, Northeastern Edition
2006 Art in America, “Shona Macdonald at the Chicago Cultural Center and Skestos Gabriele,” Susan Snodgrass, September 1
Harper’s Magazine, August
2005 Chicago Tribune, “Macdonald show suggests a land unto itself,” Jenn Q. Goddu, December 16 Chicago Sun-Times, “Macdonald maps out imaginary countries,” Margaret Hawkins, December 9
Chicago Tribune, “Exhibit covers Magnum opus,” Alan G. Artner, November 25
Los Angeles Times, “New Vistas in Landscape Painting,” David Pagel, February 11
New American Paintings, Book #59, Midwestern Edition
Time Out Chicago, Review of The Promised Land, January
2004 Panel House, Review of Den Nya Framtidsvetenskapen, Mary Gustaitis Beyer
Newcity Chicago, “Eye Exam: Party all the time,” Michael Workman, May 5
Living Artists, Crowwoods Publishing, Chicago, IL
2003 ARTnews, National Reviews, “Shona Macdonald,” Lindsey Westbrook, Summer
2002 Chicago Critics on Chicago Artists, "Uncharted Territories: The Work of Shona Macdonald,” Art Fair, Navy Pier, Chicago, January
Chicago Sun-Times, “Beyond the horizon – Artists venture outside the box for fresh look at landscape,” Margaret Hawkins, April 26
Liberty Suburban Newspaper, “Geography of memory, scenes of science – Different inspirations, like minds: Freeark showcases two artists,” Rohit Mahajan, February 6
The Life, Review of Shona Macdonald and Molly Briggs, Rohit Mahajan, February
2001 Sacramento Bee, Review of Bakers Dozen, Victoria Dalkey, December
2000 Cleveland Free Times, “The Untouchables: There’s Surface Tensions at Spaces,” Douglas Max
Utter, November 22-28
The Plain Reader, Review of Surface Tensions, Dan Trauberg, December
Cleveland Scene, “Ideas on Display,” Charles Yannopoulos, November 30
Chicago Artists News, “Redefining Emerging Artists: a Closer Look,” John Brunetti, November
FGA, Review of Shona Macdonald at Fassbender, Julia Marsh, October
Newcity Chicago, “High Art: Can West Loop galleries give River North standards a run for their money? Newcity previews the new gallery season,” Ann Wiens, September 7
1999 New Art Examiner, “It Looks Easy: A Cross Section of Recent Painting in Chicago,” John Gustafson, December/January
Gravy #5, It Looks Easy, Adam Mikos, October [online]

VISITING ARTIST/LECTURER
2007 The Uncertainty Principle: Drawing in the Golden Age of Worry, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL
2006 Visiting Artist, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL
Visiting Artist, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Panelist, “Drawing: Material Articulation,” Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
2005 Panelist, panel in conjunction with Drawn Out, Gallery 400, Chicago, IL
Lecturer, lecture in conjunction with Inscape, College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, IL
Visiting Artist, Interlink Program, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2004 Visiting Artist, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Visiting Artist, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
2003 Visiting Artist, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI
Gallery Talk, Julie Baker Fine Art, Grass Valley, CA
Visiting Artist, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2002 Visiting Artist, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Panelist, “Holding On and Letting Go: Inter-Disciplinary Art in Education,” Mid-America College Art Association Conference, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE
Visiting Artist, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Visiting Artist, Week-Long Project and Lecture, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Gallery Talk, Julie Baker Fine Art, Grass Valley, CA
Gallery Talk, held in conjunction with Topography, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL
2001 Visiting Artist, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Lecturer, Ohio State University, Bowling Green, OH
1999 Visiting Artist, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, IL
Slide Presentation, Washington University, St. Louis, MO
1997 Visiting Artist, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Slide Presentation, Wimbledon College of Art, London, England

TEACHING
2006-present Assistant Professor, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA
2005-6 Associate Professor, Illinois State University, Bloomington, IL
1998-2005 Assistant Professor, Illinois State University, Bloomington, IL

AWARDS
2005 Illinois Arts Council Finalist Award
2002-04 Illinois State University, Faculty Large Project Grant, Bloomington, IL
2001 Nominated, Louis Comfort Tiffany Award
Illinois State University, Faculty Large Project Grant, Bloomington, IL
2000 CAAP Grant, City of Chicago, Department of Cultural Affairs
1999 Illinois State University, Faculty Small Project Grant, Bloomington, IL
1997 Drawing Prize, Riverside Arts Center, Chicago, IL
1996 Jess Halpert Memorial Award, Evansville Museum, Evansville, IN
1995 R.S. Richard Foundation Award, Ayrshire, Scotland
Aberdeen Endowments Trust, Aberdeen, Scotland
1993 Purchase Award, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL
1992 Scottish International Educational Trust Scholarship, Scottish Arts Council, Edinburgh, Scotland
1990 Hart Bursary Award, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, Scotland

RESIDENCIES
2007 Artist-in-Residence, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
Ox-Bow, Awarded Cora Bliss Taylor Fellowship in Painting, Saugatuk, MI
2004 Tyrone Guthrie Center, One-month Residency, County Monaghan, Ireland (selected for the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, International Artists Residency Program)
2001 Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Artist Residency, Sweet Briar, VA
Ragdale Foundation, Artist Residency, Lake Forest, IL
1990 Hospitalfield Scholarship and Residency, Hospitalfield House, Arbroath, Scotland

INVITED PROJECTS
2006 Benefit Auction, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
2002 Water: Benefit Auction, Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2000 Awash, Collaborative Artists’ Book with Buzz Spector, WhiteWalls Benefit
1999 Book of Isles, One-of-a-Kind Artist’s Book, Fassbender Gallery
A Drawing Project, Anafidorka (Independent artist/writer publication), Winter

SELECTED COLLECTIONS
La Salle Bank, Chicago, IL
Metro Biologics, Madison, WI
Sackner Collection of Concrete and Visual Poetry, Miami Beach, FL
Telfair Art Museum, Savannah, GA
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI