Harry McAlpine joins Chalk Horse

Sydney gallery adds New Zealand-born photographer to its growing stable.

Words: Charlotte Middleton

Chalk Horse gallery in Sydney has recently announced representation of Aotearoa/New Zealand-born artist Harry McAlpine, the latest of a number of additions to its stable in recent months.

Working within the formal and conceptual framework of contemporary drawing, McAlpine combines technical faculty with an interest in the expanded operations of drawing, including performative actions, sculptural elements and photography. McAlpine’s work – usually steeped in mirth and absurdity – seeks to address the idiosyncrasies of modern living, and more broadly, the human psyche.

McAlpine graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours at Whitecliffe College of Art and Design, Auckland, in 2016. He has since held multiple solo exhibitions across both Australia and New Zealand, at galleries including Laree Payne Gallery, Hamilton; The Wellington Academy of Fine Arts, Wellington; The Pah Homestead, Auckland; The Gallery of Western Australia, Perth; and Chalk Horse, Sydney.

McApline is a two-time merit award winner in the Parkin Drawing Prize, Wellington Academy of Fine Arts, with work held in the Wallace Arts Trust Collection. Now living and working in Naarm/Melbourne, he was recently selected as a finalist in the 2021 Bowness Photography Prize at the Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne.

McAlpine is the latest addition to a growing stable at Chalk Horse, which has also picked up Daniel Domig, Philjames, Benedict Dos Remedios, Peta Minnici, and Catherine Clayton-Smith in recent times.

McAlpine will present a debut exhibition at Chalk Horse in mid-late 2022.

Harry McAlpine is also represented Laree Payne Gallery, Hamilton, New Zealand.

This article was originally published 2 November 2021.

Image: Harry McAlpine, Deluge, 2019 charcoal on paper, 56 x 76cm. Courtesy: the artist and Chalk Horse, Sydney.

Featured image: Harry McAlpine, ‘Frankenstein #2’ (detail), 2021. Charcoal on 600gsm cotton rag paper, 84 x 64cm. Courtesy: the artist and Chalk Horse, Sydney.

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