Billy McQueen
Biography
Billy McQueen’s subject matter is largely drawn from domestic scenes of family life and imagery connected to his ancestral land in the Kaingaroa Plains. While his work is quietly biographical and not political – it’s only a starting point for the artist and secondary to his central aim – which is concerned with painterly substance and surface and the illusionistic spaces it can create. McQueen’s paintings are consciously manipulated and reversed, as a way to investigate traditional painting techniques and the materials employed. In this process, abstractions and distortions naturally occur sometimes summoning new and unexpected imagery.
McQueen’s work, while decidedly pictorial in appearance, is concerned with the evocative potential of paint, embracing both the recent history of abstraction alongside broader traditions of narrative painting. His distinctive approach to the language and medium of painting – coupled with the use of photography as a source – allows the artist to create resonant and ambiguous images which shift between the real and imaginary, pushing at the medium’s potential for depth and meaning.
After finishing his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Elam School of Fine Arts in 1997, Billy worked as a print technician at Manukau Institute of Technology Visual Arts School and as a designer for the Auckland Museum. In 2000 he transitioned into a successful career in advertising winning a number of awards, both nationally and internationally for his work as a creative director. Twelve years and two children later, McQueen returned to Elam to complete a Master of Fine Arts, graduating in 2015 with 1st Class honours.
