about | contact


Email - paul@contactsheet.com.au 
Mobile - + 61 416 053 665
Currently based in Sydney, Australia 

Paul McDonald is a socially engaged artist, educator and curator whose personal practice explores masculinity and mental health. His photographic work has been published both nationally and internationally.

He was recently commissioned by ‘The Dax Centre’ Melbourne and BridgingHope Charity to produce and exhibit his first major solo exhibition ‘resonance’ in response to the Cunningham Dax Collection. The Cunningham Dax Collection consists of more than 16,000 artworks created by people who have experienced mental illness or psychological trauma.  The Collection includes works on paper, canvases, photographs, textiles, sculptures, installations, artists’ books and diaries, digital media and films. Paul is the first artist to be asked to respond to the collection in a contemporary way.

Paul gained experience as a senior manager in the private sector from2000-2008. From 2008-2012 he held senior management positions, AssociateDirector at Australian Centre for Photography. From 2012-2014 he was galleryDirector at 10x8 gallery, Sydney. In 2014 he founded Contact Sheet,St Leonard’s NSW, where he is currently self-employed as Director. 

Paul completed his MA in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at University of the Arts London in December 2016 with Distinction. He currently is a lecturer at Macleay College teaching Photojournalism, News Photography and MOJO(Mobile Journalism). 

Contact Sheet is a creative space for photography committed to supporting emerging and established photographers. It supports photographers to develop their artistic and commercial practices. Contact Sheet host’s exhibitions at the St Leonard’s gallery and other spaces and showcases new photographic projects on-line. It provides opportunities for education, skills building, mentorship and collaboration.  

Contact Sheet also actively supports participation of people from diverse social and cultural backgrounds through a scholarships and community engagement program. 

As Director of Contact Sheet Paul curated and presented over 50exhibitions, a series of free public programs attracting an audience of over7,500 visitors and provided a structured mentoring program to over 60 clients, workshops for over 180 clients and hosted over 15 internships in partnership with local colleges and Universities.

He was invited to curate exhibitions in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 for the Head On Photography festival and has curated a number of exhibitions for private clients including Canon Australia, Sunstudios and Mardi Gras Festival.In 2018, Paul was commissioned to curate and engage an artist by Transport forNSW to deliver a temporary public art for local electricity boxes in StLeonard’s, North Sydney.

Since 2009 Paul has developed and presented a number of participatory programs discussing social issues and engaging with local communities and diverse groups. His clients include North Sydney Council, City of Sydney,Western Sydney Migrant Resource Centre, UNSW and The Big Anxiety Festival, BridgingHope Charity Foundation, The Dax Centre, Life without Barriers, Twenty 10,Flashpoint Labs, National Centre of Indigenous Excellence, Australian Centre for Photography, Sunstudios and Canon Australia.

Education

MA - Photojournalism and Documentary Photography (Distinction), 2016
London College of Communication, University of the Arts London

Exhibitions

Please note group exhibitions planned for Fotografiska, New York, Independent galleries in Paris and Berlin, June and July 2020 are postponed to COVID19. Exhibitions are curated by Ghislain Pascal, Director - The Little Black Gallery, London.

Manic | Group Exhibition, The Big Anxiety Festival, UNSW, October 2019
Resonance | Solo Exhibition commissioned by The Dax Centre Melbourne, June 2019
Activism | Group Exhibition, Sydney Mardi Gras Festival, March, 2018
Who is he | Group Exhibition, Contact Sheet, Sydney, 2017
Skin | Nude | Group Exhibition, The Fox Gallery, Melbourne & Contact Sheet, Sydney, 2017
Decisive Moment | Group Exhibition, Contact Sheet, Sydney, 2016
Frame 17a (Group Exhibition) - Australian Centre for Photography, 2016
Gansu – ‘Gansu through the eyes of Foreign Photographers’, China, 2013
Guiyang, Guizhou, PRC. Exhibitor 6th Session ‘China Photo Original’ International Photographic Exhibition, China, 2013
National Museum, Beijing, and Cultural Museum, Chengdu, 2012

Public art

B-Line Public Art Project - Curated by Gill Minervini, Commissioned to create two artworks, 2019.
TWT Creative Precinct - Curated by Brand X & TWT, commissioned to create an artwork, 2019.

Publications

Boys, Boys, Boys - Published by teNeues / MENDO - Curated by Ghislain Pascal, Director - The Little Black Gallery, London. 2020

A full resume and work history can be found at

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-mcdonald-65203934/

Using Format