Billy McQueen is of Ngati Manawa and Te Arawa descent, living and working in Auckland. He holds a bachelor of fine arts from Elam School of Fine Arts (1997) and spent time working as a print technician at Manukau Institute of Technology Visual Arts School and designer for the Auckland Museum.

He also worked for many years as an advertiser and creative director, but now works as a full time artist after completing a masters in fine art at Elam (2016).

While Billy’s paintings are composed of biographical scenes, they are also an investigation into traditional painting techniques and materials. He uses paint to abstract, distort and create an unexpected mythic quality to his pieces. There is a soft, tonal quality to his paintings that have a delightfully domestic feel to them, as he observes and paints the world around him.

Elements of printmaking can be seen within his compositions, as he creates depth through layering light over dark. While Billy’s paintings traverse tranquility, they can also be read as contemporary descendents of Hockney or Warhol, who as pop artists were also masters of observation. For example, while painting a delightful summer scene in his hometown, deep in the Whirinaki forest, McQueen channels David Hockney’s pool paintings but with a kiwi swimming hole twist.

Courtesy of Föenander Galleries