Ranny Macdonald (b. 1994) is a London based painter and musician. By seeing through the eyes of the city’s dogs and pigeons, or in still life paintings of anthropomorphic flowers, Macdonald’s works create a space to consider our relationship with ‘nature’ or the more-than-human world. Beyond his visual language, which draws from early Pixar as much as the history of painting, the works employ a restricted palette of locally sourced earth pigments, affording him opportunities to embody his subjects more deeply, and celebrate the limits of unprocessed colour.
Since his graduation from the Royal Drawing School’s post-graduate programme in 2022, Macdonald has exhibited nationally and internationally. In 2023 he was selected for the Bloomberg New Contemporaries, which showed at Camden Art Centre, London and Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool.
CV:
B. 1994 London, England
2012-2014 Slade School Of Fine Art (BA)
2018-2020 City And Guilds Of London Art School (BA)
2021-2022 The Royal Drawing School Drawing Year (Post-graduate programme)
Recent Exhibitions:
Solo:
2026 Everything, In a Way, Is a Cloud, General Assembly, London
2024 One Small Step, General Assembly, London
2023 Significant Other, Moosey Gallery, Norwich
Group:
2025 Hurst Contemporary (curated by Eduardo Monti), London
2025 Good Eye Projects, Saatchi Gallery, London
2024 Utopia, Incubator Gallery, London
2024 Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2023, Camden Arts Centre, London
2024 Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2023, Grundy Gallery, Blackpool
2024 In Praise Of Shadows, Melzi Fine Art, Milan
2024 Porquoi London, Gertrude Art x Canopy Collections, London
2024 The Seven Lamps, Hyper Studios, London
2024 Animalia, Arc Salon, Cornwall, 2023
2023 A-Z Box of Friends And Family, Malborough Gallery, London
2022 The Best Of The Drawing Year, Christies, London,
2022 Pathways In Paper, South Parade, London
2022 Wish Lush, Kravitz Contemporary, London
2022 Split Open, Split Gallery, London,
2022 The Amber Room, Reference Point Library (180 The Strand), London
2022 Dream Baby Dream, Fitzrovia Gallery (Paint Talk), London,
Awards and Residences:
2025 Pigniano Royal Drawing School Residency
2024 Good Eye Residency, London, May-September
2024 Palazzo Monti, Brescia, Italy
2023 Bloomberg new Contemporaries
2021 Scholarship programme ‘The Drawing Year’ at The Royal Drawing School
2022 Dumfries House Residency, Ayrshire, Scotland
2020 Highly commended Beep Painting Biennale, Swansea