Thomas MacGregor

Thomas MacGregor is a figurative painter based in London who captures and synthesises his surroundings into the image he would like to see.

In the late 90s, his work in Edinburgh was concerned with nightlife. He was involved in the emerging comedy scene and an early 'Cowboy painting' became the iconic logo for the "The Stand Comedy Club." he also taught drawing and painting in Scottish Prisons.

In 2007, Thomas moved to Bolivia for an artist residency, culminating in solo exhibitions across the country. From 2009 he lived in northeast London and was primarily focused on representational portrait painting.

In 2018, Thomas returned to Bolivia for a 9-month stay with a Bolivian paratrooper regiment. This stay coincided with a correspondence course at the Turps Art School Which laid the foundation for an extensive body of work.

Thomas returned to London to participate in the Turps studio program, and this academic course structure helped steer away from rendering and the commitment to representational depiction towards a more ambiguous abstraction that suited a quicker realisation of content and meaning.

Thomas's work oscillates between old and new, never fully committing to either, and portrait painting still makes up a significant part of his existence. He was awarded the Turps/Darbyshire Award for emerging art in 2020, was a candidate for Sky Arts' "Portrait artist of the year" in 2019 and 2020, and was a finalist for Sky Arts' "landscape artist of the year" in 2021.