Studied at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen, Scotland, (BA Hons Fine Art) 1986-90; University of Ulster at Belfast, Northern Ireland, (MA Fine Art) 1990-91.
Co-founder of Six into 18 artists’ projects (with Nuala Gregory), Belfast and Derry, 1992-93. Inaugural show at 18 Lower Donegall Street, Belfast; followed by Set-Up at Carlisle Road in Derry; culminated with Presentense at Ross’s Court in Belfast.
Co-director at Catalyst Arts, Belfast, 1994-96.
Lecturer in Painting at Limerick School of Art and Design, 1997-2003.
Currently Lecturer in Painting at Belfast School of Art, Ulster University, and a studio holder at PS², 11 Rosemary Street, Belfast.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2004 Perspective, Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast (curated by Vittorio Urbani).
John Moores 23, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool (selected by Callum Innes, Gavin Turk, Ann Bukantas, Gill Hedley and Jarvis Cocker)
2006 Emerging Artists, RHA Ashford Gallery, Dublin (curated by Mark St John Ellis).
A Seed-of-Zero, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast (curated by Peter Richards).
2007 The Double Image, Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast (invited to curate by Peter Richards, with accompanying exhibition book and essay as part of The Collective Histories of Northern Irish Art series).
2008 Kilkenny Visual Arts Festival (curated by Hugh Mulholland).
178th RHA Annual Exhibition, Gallagher Gallery, Dublin (invited artist).
2010 John Moores Prizewinners’ Retrospective, Seongnam Arts Centre, South Korea.
2012 John Moores 2012 Painting Prize, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool (selected by Angela de la Cruz, Fiona Banner, Alan Yentob, Iwona Blazwick and George Shaw).
2013 Between Two Worlds (with David Crone and Mark McGreevy), F.E. McWilliam Gallery, Banbridge, Co. Down, N. Ireland (curated by Dr. Riann Coulter and Feargal O’Malley).
Long They Look and Deeply (with Jeffrey Dennis, Christopher Hanlon, Fiona Finnegan, Tim Millen, Andrew Cranston, Flora Moscovici and Hannah Casey), Satis House, Belfast (curated by Kim McAleese and Eoin Dara).
2014 The Far Away Nearby, F.E. McWilliam Gallery, Banbridge, Co. Down, N. Ireland (curated by Feargal O’Malley).
The MAC International, Metropolitan Arts Centre, Belfast (curated by Francesco Bonami, Hugh Mulholland and Judith Nesbitt).
2017 Fully Awake, Pavilion Gallery, House for an Art Lover, Glasgow (curated by Ian Hartshorne and Sean Kaye).
Get’Cha Head in the Game, The Naughton Gallery at Queen’s University, Belfast (curated by Ben Crothers and Rachel Brown).
2019 How The Image Echoes, a Painting Research Group exhibition (with Louise Wallace, Susan Connolly, Majella Clancy, Brian Bishop, Christopher Hanlon, Joy Gerrard and Paddy McCann), PS² at Royal Avenue, Belfast.
2020 How The Image Echoes– Part 2, a Painting Research Group exhibition (with Louise Wallace, Susan Connolly, Majella Clancy, Cherie Driver, Christopher Hanlon, Joy Gerrard and Paddy McCann), Ulster University Gallery, York Street, Belfast.
2021 Terra Infirma, with Aisling O’Beirn, PS² at Rosemary Street, Belfast
Oxlade Soup (After Roy), Terrace Gallery at William IV, Leyton, London (curated by Angela Johnson, Karl Bielik and Henry Ward).
Selected Solo Shows and Projects
2005 Culloden, Context Gallery, Derry.
2006 Scenes from Old Europe, New and Recent Paintings, RHA Ashford Gallery, Dublin.
2009 Dunkelbunt, The Third Space Gallery, Belfast.
2011 Hot and Cool, The Third Space Gallery, Belfast.
2017 A Dream and an Argument, New Paintings, The MAC, Belfast.
2019 Belfast-Type Pictures, Five Paintings and a Slide Show, PS² at Royal Avenue, Belfast.
2020 More Bad News, Golden Thread Gallery Project Space, Belfast.
Selected Awards
2004 John Moores 23 Shortlisted Prizewinner
2005 Arts Council of Northern Ireland Major Individual Award
2008 Arts Council of Northern Ireland SIAP Award
2010 Arts Council of Northern Ireland SIAP Award
2020 Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award
Reviews
Dougal McKenzie at the third space, Belfast in Artforum, Maeve Connolly:
Dougal McKenzie 