Trees & snow a fusion of both photographic & hand-painted elements
Tim Maguire, Australia/United Kingdom b.1958 / Trees and snow I, II & III 2008 / Digital pigment ink on paper / 180.2 x 119.6cm (comp., irreg.) each / Gift of an anonymous donor through the QAG Foundation 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Tim Maguire / View full image
Tim Maguire’s artworks often depict fragments of landscape and celebrate the ethereal beauty of nature. His practice walks a fine line between modernist painting and digital printmaking.
Initially, Maguire translates photographs into oil and solvent paintings before converting these into computer files. His technical inventiveness allows him to work in a range of colours, and on a monumental scale, unobtainable in other kinds of printmaking.
The artist describes his Trees and snow works as ‘a fusion of both photographic and hand-painted elements.
The trees I photographed in East Sussex, and the painted snowflakes, were based on photographs of snow collected from various sources at various times. Hence, the more generic title . . . [but] one could say that the reference to location in the titling of recent works reflects a growing interest in the specificity of place.
These carefully manipulated photographic prints capture the simple beauty of one of his favourite subjects, much of his work revolves around the metaphorical powers of landscape, whether Australian deserts or urban European scenes.
Whether Maguire’s works are based on photographic studies of specific locations or incorporate a more generic visual language, they are always submitted to a rigorous process of selective intensification and re-colouration. Using advanced digital techniques, and deploying extremely sophisticated printing techniques that permit the production of these very large prints on paper, Maguire then works with a master printer to refine the visual and emotional effect of the final images.
The prints depict, as the titles suggest, ‘trees and snow’. Or rather, that is where they begin. They have since been dramatically enhanced, glorified by the application of digital techniques that allow Maguire to ponder on the processes of perception and image-making. The ceaseless moment of the falling snow and its beauty both attract and fascinate him.
View Tim Maguire’s Trees and snow 2008 in 'Wonderstruck' at the Gallery of Modern Art until 6 October 2025 or delve into the captivating works on display with our weekly highlights.
Tim Maguire, Australia/United Kingdom b.1958 / Trees and snow I 2008 / Digital pigment ink on paper / 180.2 x 119.6cm (comp., irreg.) / Gift of an anonymous donor through the QAG Foundation 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Tim Maguire / View full image
Tim Maguire, Australia/United Kingdom b.1958 / Trees and snow II 2008 / Digital pigment ink on paper / 180.2 x 119.6cm (comp., irreg.) / Gift of an anonymous donor through the QAG Foundation 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Tim Maguire / View full image
Tim Maguire, Australia/United Kingdom b.1958 / Trees and snow III 2008 / Digital pigment ink on paper / 180.2 x 119.6cm (comp., irreg.) / Gift of an anonymous donor through the QAG Foundation 2012. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Tim Maguire / View full image
Wonderstruck
28 June – 6 October 2025
Gallery of Modern Art
Gallery 1.1 (The Fairfax Gallery), Gallery 1.2 & Gallery 1.3 (Eric and Marion Taylor Gallery)
Brisbane, Australia
Free entry