![Fintan Magee painting a collab mural with Numskull in Newtown](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Fintan_Magee_painting_a_collab_mural_with_Numskull_in_Newtown.jpg)
Fintan Magee is an Australian
street artist known for his murals throughout Australia and the world. Born in
Lismore, New South Wales
Lismore is a city in northeastern New South Wales, Australia and the main population centre in the City of Lismore local government area; it is also a regional centre in the Northern Rivers region of the State. It is situated on a low flood pl ...
, he grew up in
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
, gaining a reputation as a
graffiti
Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
writer before obtaining a
fine arts degree and relocating to Sydney.
Work
![Djerba Er Riadh Street Art 07](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Djerba_Er_Riadh_Street_Art_07.JPG)
He has been described as "Australia's
Banksy
Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigram ...
" by a number of media outlets although Magee has stated in various interviews that he hates this and has stated it is a result of "lazy journalism".
His work often deals with environmental issues. In 2015 his solo show at
Backwoods Gallery
Backwoods Gallery is a contemporary art gallery located in the Melbourne suburb of Collingwood, Australia. Founded in August 2010 the gallery exhibits Australian and international artists with a focus on urban contemporary art, street art
St ...
in Melbourne was themed around his own personal experiences in the 2011
Brisbane floods. He often uses personal stories to talk about broader issues like
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
and the migrant crisis.
He received national acclaim for his mural depicting
Felix Baumgartner
Felix Baumgartner (; born 20 April 1969) is an Austrian skydiver, daredevil and BASE jumper. He is widely known for jumping to Earth from a helium balloon from the stratosphere on 14 October 2012 and landing in New Mexico, United States, as par ...
in Brisbane,
["Fintan Magee creates arresting street art tribute to Felix Baumgartner in Brisbane"](_blank)
by Erinna Giblin, News.com.au
news.com.au is an Australian website owned by News Corp Australia. It had 9.6 million unique readers in April 2019 and covers national and international news, lifestyle, travel, entertainment, technology, finance, and sport.
Staff
The organiza ...
, 26 October 2012 and has participated in various public art festivals in Australia and abroad. Along with other recognised street artists from around Australia, Magee contributed to
Toowoomba
Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 ...
's "First Coat" program.
"Toowoomba's streets of art"
by Kate Stark, ''Queensland Country Life
''Queensland Country Life'' is a newspaper published in Queensland, Australia, since 1935. It focuses on rural news.
History
The ''Queensland Country Life'' newspaper is the second of that name. The first newspaper was published from 1900 to 1 ...
'', 1 March 2014
Family background
Fintan has Irish, English and Australian ancestry, his father is from Derry in Northern Ireland and his mother is English born. His maternal grandfather, who was from Woollahra
Woollahra is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woollahra is located 5 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Woolla ...
in Sydney, had an architectural practice in Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
, West Africa.
References
Further reading
"Inside the magical world of Australia's 'Banksy' "
''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'' Sydney, 25 March 2014
"From Westend to Comparisons with Banksy"
''Brisbane Times
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
'', 24 March 2014
* http://www.streetartbio.com/single-post/2016/04/20/Galleria-Varsi-presents-Fintan-Magee
External links
*
*
Google Map of Fintan Magee murals in Sydney Australia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magee, Fintan
Australian artists
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
People educated at Brisbane State High School
People from Lismore, New South Wales