We'll be home by daybreak | 1995 - 2025: Wayne Magrin, curated by James Drinkwater.

Lennox St Gallery is pleased to present 'We'll be home by daybreak | 1995 - 2025', a significant survey exhibition by the esteemed artist Wayne Magrin. This comprehensive exhibition spans thirty years of Magrin's remarkable career, offering an in-depth look at his artistic evolution and enduring themes. 

 

Please join us for exhibition launch

on Saturday, 14 February 2026, 2 - 4pm,

with opening remarks by James Drinkwater.

 

 

 

In March 2016, I was in Palm Beach Australia in the house of my friend Jeremy Thomas. There were some large paintings around the room, and there was one small painting of a sail that was about six inches by four inches and the frame that was made for it was even bigger than the painting. But the way that the sail was painted, made me want to see more of whoever it was that made that painting, because that little painting of a sail had more character than all these large paintings that were hanging in this huge room. So I went to the house of Wayne Magrin and I saw some paintings that he had painted of sailboats. And theres something about someone that's been looking at the water and has been at sea. Now, that's one thing, but then there's another quality of somebody that can actually make a mark that translates into paint, that is simultaneously water moving, and a mark that is direct and full of humanity. I was struck by Wayne's paintings and I bought a few of them and told him essentially I was going to steal them from him because they were worth a lot more than I was going to pay. But if I did do that I also wanted to give him $10,000 and I said, I would like you to make four 8 by 8 foot paintings on wood, and I would keep two and you could keep the other two. And when Wayne made those paintings, I knew my hunch at the moment that I saw the first painting of the sail, that if he had the opportunity to paint a large painting that something surprising would come out, something that was unique.  And it did. What I didn't know is that he had an extraordinary imagination, and he was filled with stories, stories that he wanted to paint, that went from maritime themes to John Peggotty, who was a highwayman, who was very small, who used to rob people, and escape on an ostrich, to surfers surfing, to Australians having their leisure moments near swimming pools, and mundane scenes of things that resonate with a poetic of a truly narrative painter; and make that kind of painting viable at this moment in time. I think he is the heir apparent to Sidney Nolan, who made the paintings of Ned Kelly some years back. And I love Wayne, and I love the way he paints. And I've been working on a couple of scripts over the years. One was of a book called Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann, and Wayne decided to make paintings of the story of Till Eulenspiegel, who was the a jester that was alive during the 30 Years War in Europe. And then I was working on another script In The Hand of Dante, and I noticed that Wayne started painting scenes from a movie that he never saw, that we hadn't made yet. So there's an imagination. He's got a cornucopia of things to paint and all we really have to do is be patient and let the plethora of imagery and of the profound simplicity of the way Wayne puts paint down, speak to us.
Julian Schnabel

 

 

I thank Julian (Schnabel) for introducing me to the art of Wayne Magrin.  Wayne's art intersected my life when I needed to learn to see again, and his works renew my vision every time I see them.  His paintings, original and unclassifiable, defy current trends and resist the pressures of popular culture and transient idioms. They embody a naturalness in every sense, with Wayne's mastery evident in his handling of form, color, and tone. His art offers insights into the human condition that transcend traditional avenues of learning, surpassing the confines of art schools, Master's degrees, or residency programs. In his latest series, medieval imagery and narrative saturate the canvas, inspired by Daniel Kehlmann's 2017 novel Tyll, which revolves around the folkloric figure Tyll Eulenspiegel amidst the Thirty Years' War. 

 

Wayne's paintings transport us into foreboding interiors, scenes of debauchery in towns, and chilling landscapes, introducing a new dimension of subjectivity and sensitivity to his oeuvre. Oscillating between beauty and horror, the exquisite and the damned, the celebrated and the downtrodden, Wayne skilfully balances on a tightrope. Tyll Eulenspiegel, the jester and trickster of widespread lore, serves as a central motif. In works like That's my shoe, Tyll's antics spark chaos as locals, in a comical frenzy, engage in a quarrel over tossed shoes, oblivious to their rightful owners. It's a scene both profoundly odd and subversive, providing fertile ground for Wayne's artistic exploration. There is a relaxed correspondence with art history at play, but it is never obvious. One thinks of Pieter Bruegel - maybe Sidney Nolan - but these citations require teasing out, should you decide to take that route. What sets the art of Wayne Magrin outside such categorisation is his ability to avoid the usual doubt and self-conscious affectations almost synonymous with such referencing and visual quoting. In the end, the paintings are undeniably his own: unaffected and pure. His brain and his heart are fused together. His vision flows from his mind, through his heart, and onto the canvas and it resonates with an undeniable truth."-

James Drinkwater