Michael McHugh
With the use of gestural acrylic mark making, McHugh creates a layered abstraction moving between the paintings’ surface and botanical shapes. Works are sometimes sombre and brooding, and at other times energetic and vibrant, with textural layers echoing moments in time. McHugh believes constant drawing and collaging to be fundamental to his painting process. This foundation enables him to fully explore composition and vigorously push boundaries with colour and technique.
Graduating from Whitecliffe College of Arts & Design in New Zealand, he has attended masterclasses in painting at the National Art School in Sydney, Australia. He currently works in the creative media industry and also exhibits his work in Sydney, Australia. McHugh’s work is held in a number of private collections in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom.
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Harmony, 2025 Sold -
Now you see it, Now you don't, 2025 Sold -
Perennial , 2025 Sold -
Entwinement., 2025 Sold -
RUSH HOUR, 2024 -
COMMUNITY GARDEN, 2024 Sold -
PROPAGATE, 2024 Sold -
Playground , 2024 Sold -
Aitutaki , 2023 Sold -
Eden, 2023 Sold -
Swimming in the Clouds, 2022 -
Resplendent, 2022 Sold -
Bellevue, 2022 Sold -
Honeycomb -
Concord Symposium. 2025.
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Michael McHugh - New Paintings
4 - 20 Oct 2025Morphogenesis —the biological process that gives rise to the form and structure of living organisms—serves as a fitting conceptual foundation for Michael McHugh’s latest body of work. Drawing on the...Read more -
Michael McHugh - Archipelago
7 - 28 Dec 2023McHugh’s paintings reflect an instantly familiar vision of exotic forms and nature’s exuberance, as well as a highly personal perception of subject matter. His playfulness is complemented by an abstract...Read more -
Facing North
1 - 22 Apr 2023This showcase represents diversity of generations, approaches, and viewpoints, as artists embark on spatial journey by exploring notions of place; physically, metaphorically and temporally.Read more -
Michael McHugh - The Island
1 - 20 Dec 2022McHugh’s paintings reflect an instantly familiar vision of exotic forms and nature’s exuberance, as well as a highly personal perception of subject matter. His playfulness is complemented by an abstract...Read more -
Aotearoa Art Fair 2022
16 - 20 Nov 2022Föenander Galleries is presenting a series of new works by Andrea Bolima, Roger Mortimer, Michael McHugh & Ramon RobertsonRead more
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Michael McHugh featured on the cover of Art Collector Magazine
Apr 30, 2025Michael McHugh's painting Moorea featured on the cover of the current issue of Art Collector Magazine and he is also profiled in the 'Look Out...Read more -
Michael McHugh's largest work to date in public show in Melbourne
August 11, 2022Michael McHugh has completed his largest work to date, at six meters in length and two meters high. This huge painting is titled ‘Swimming in...Read more
