Andrew MacDonald’s paintings from Hornsey Foodbank go on display at Highgate Gallery in March.
After a 30 year career as a professional musician, he was inspired by a photograph of an African-American woman protesting against Police brutality to swap his violin for paintbrushes.
“It was 2015 and it came as a bolt out of the blue,” he says.
“When I saw this image of the woman in Ferguson I realised I had to find a way to say what I felt. Although I was playing music as my job, I would come off stage and think ‘I have done what I was paid for but I wasn’t really saying what I wanted to say’.
“I found myself in an art shop buying canvases and paint, and realised I could express myself through painting.
“Before, my creativity went through my violin now it comes through the canvases.”
As a volunteer at the foodbank in Middle Lane, he hopes his solo show What it is To Be Human will raise awareness by making food poverty “more visible.”
“I live around the corner from the foodbank and what I saw there was really powerful, a sense of people living side by side as equals without prejudice, and looking after our community so people felt valued, respected and supported,” he says.
“I thought how can I say something about this? My work has always been about people and I always come back to portraits.”
Each painting began with him sitting down with the subject for “a good chat about their lives,” before making a video and taking photographs back to the studio.
“The portraits reflect a basic humanity,” says Andrew. “The foodbank is an environment where people feel safe and know someone’s there to support and not judge them – one guy said ‘I come here, and just for a moment, life is ok.’
“He forgets his difficulties and despair – it’s about food but it’s about so much more.”
The dozen portraits, painted throughout 2024 also feature in a book co-produced with Hornsey photographer Thomas Skovsende.
The £10 price tag will be donated to the Foodbank where Andrew says he’s seen a rise in the number of people coming through the doors – including those with jobs.
“There’s a lot of working poverty, you may have a job but simply can’t afford food after paying the bills.”
Other guests have health or mental health struggles and have been hit by the cost of living.
He says his portraits are a reminder that “sudden changes in circumstances could mean any of us finding ourselves in food poverty and needing help.”
“There’s a lot of anger about the fact that foodbanks exist at all and have become essential in a modern society, but where do you put your energies?
“Ultimately a foodbank has to focus on looking after their community.”
Alongside the foodbank portraits Andrew is showing images from private commissions and will be at the gallery throughout the show to talk about his work and process.
Andrew MacDonald: What it is to be Human runs at Highgate Gallery in Pond Square from March 7-20.
