Tim McMonagle is interested in the psychological musings of the human experience and has a fascination in groups that exist on the fringes of society. Through his unique and masterful handling of oil paint, his artworks offer multiple entrance points that unravel over time, revealing beguiling narratives that emerge around the artist’s central protagonists. Inspired by the social commentary painters of the ‘20s and ‘30s including Otto Dix and George Grosz, his body of work continues to reflect the past in order to understand the present.

Over three decades, McMonagle has exhibited across the country at public, non-profit and commercial art spaces including exhibitions at ACCA, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Bayside Gallery, the National Gallery of Victoria, MUMA, and the Ian Potter Museum of Art. A finalist in Australia’s most prestigious and lucrative painting prizes including the Archibald, Wynne, Bayside and the Arthur Guy Memorial Prize, McMonagle was the recipient of the Fletcher Jones Art Prize. His artworks are held in key private, public and university collections, most notably in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Victoria, Ian Potter Museum of Art, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Geelong Art Gallery, Monash University, Newcastle Regional Gallery, Wollongong Regional Gallery, Edith Cowan University, University of Queensland Art Museum and Artbank, Michael Buxton, Joyce Nissan, UBS and the Macquarie Bank collections.