Ewan McDougall at Railway Street Gallery - ‘Brain Explosions’

‘In terms of direct emotional communication of uncomfortable corners of the human condition, he’s on to something.’

‘With rare raw nerve and emotional directness in his communication between the viewer looking in and the viewed looking out, McDougall touches on both the fragility and ugliness of the ego.’

‘“My child could paint that”

‘It’s adult experience not childhood innocence at play here. Part of the liberation for the viewer in fact is the way McDougall deals with complex concerns in a raw direct manner. We’re made to feel part of this drama, aware as adults of our own childish behaviour.’

Outsider artist, loosely housed with artists such as Jeffrey Harris, Philip Clairmont, and Allen Maddox, painters influences by German Expressionists.

Sourced from ‘Flashback’ exhibition brochure 2001, Mark Avery, Centre of Contemporary Arts, Christchurch.

Foreword by David Eggleton, Ewan McDougall ‘Paintings’, 2011. Ed. David F Marks, ArtnStuff, London.

Paintings are stubborn assertion of self, their expressive awkwardness and naive vision. His works are raucous and carnivalesque, fresh and urgent, instructive and narration all. Humour is at the heart. Palate borrowed from the rainbow. Exploring masculinity. The Picaresque Anti-hero. His creature seem both vulnerable and aggressive.

Preface: Painting is my life and I paint the way I do because the events of my past keep bubbling up onto the canvas. I am a Neo-expressionist painter.

Also connection to Māori rock art in North Otago/south Canterbury. (As discussed at Judy Millar artist’s talk at Micheal Lett Gallery).