Utilising strong saturated colour and a reduced monotone palette, McIlroy effectively creates subtle tonal variations, imparting a dream like quality to the works.
Andrew McIlroy produces sophisticated paintings that challenge traditional and modernist methodologies. Referencing Australian Colonialism and the forefathers of the landscape tradition, McIlroy’s concern with atmosphere, golden light and voluminous skies pays homage to the great Joseph Mallord William Turner and forms a bridge with contemporary figuration. His work investigates the diffusion of sky, sea and light as they merge into one, and horizon lines as they diminish or disappear. Utilising strong saturated colour and a reduced monotone palette, McIlroy effectively creates subtle tonal variations, imparting a dream like quality to the works.
Andrew McIlroy belongs to a new wave of highly regarded Australian Romantic artists. If his expressive seascapes with tumultuous seas and stormy skies were but elemental paintings, they could be viewed as outward-looking, non-sensual depictions of nature. However, there is something deeper going on: his paintings are evocative visions that are deeply felt and imbued with personal experiences. McIlroy’s composition and palette capture the artist’s mood, whereby he evokes a strong sense of emotion, illuminating the ever-present forces of nature.
Andrew McIlroy’s fresh approach, united with a reverence for the western painting tradition, produces outstanding contemporary work and places him in a unique position to extend formal classicism into the 21st Century. He has completed studies with Melbourne, Monash and Swinburne Universities and the Julian Ashton Art School. He has exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions in Australia and the USA.
In 2006, McIlroy was a finalist in the ANL Maritime Art Prize, the North Sydney Art Prize and was selected for the Landcom International Artists Project. In 2008 he was a finalist in the Kings School Art Prize, Sydney. After an acclaimed sell-out exhibition in 2007 McIlroy embarked on an extensive study tour of Europe. Andrew McIlroy’s work is part of several public, corporate and private collections including Cisco Systems; Benson Partners; Howarth Australia; Landcom; and, the Prince of Wales Hospital, New South Wales.