{"Id":3386,"Name":"Shaun Downey","Biography":"\u003Cp\u003EBorn in 1978 Shaun Downey spent his childhood in Oshawa, Ontario. His father worked at the local General Motors plant, as do many of the residents of the small but mighty city. As the end of high school drew near Shaun decided to stick with his gut and pursue a career as an artist.\u003C/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter getting rejected for entry to the animation program at Sheridan College, he found a small animation school opening up in Toronto where a few fellow art students from his high school were working . When he arrived at the school he was amazed to see rows of charcoal cast drawings, highly rendered figure drawings and classically inspired paintings. The animation classes were a new addition to the already thriving classical drawing and painting school called \u0022Angel Studios\u0022, which was headed by painter Michael John Angel.\u003C/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA student of the great Italian painter Pietro Annigoni, Michael John Angel was running two schools at the time, one in Toronto and one in Florence Italy which he still heads today. Once Shaun saw the level of quality in the student\u0027s work, he immediately switched his focus from animation to figurative drawing and painting, and began classes the next week.\u003C/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter a year of study at Angel Studios, he decided to pursue an illustration career and enrolled in Sheridan College\u0027s three year illustration program. At Sheridan Shaun built his sensibilities and tastes regarding what he wanted to express in his work, and at the end of the three years he decided that being an illustrator was not for him. He wanted to spend more time on his work than the profession usually allows, so decided to start exhibiting his paintings.\u003C/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShaun\u0027s first show at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition in 2003 was a great success, and Shaun soon moved to Toronto\u0027s west end. After showing at several group exhibitions around Toronto, he became represented by Ingram Gallery in 2005, having two solo exhibitions and showing at four Toronto International Art Fairs with them. In 2010 Shaun joined the roster of Engine Gallery in Toronto\u0027s historical Distillery District, and will have his first solo exhibition in October 2011.\u003C/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMost recently, Shaun\u0027s painting \u0022Blue Coco\u0022 has been selected for exhibition in the BP Portrait Award 2010, that is exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in London England in June. The most prestigious exhibition of its kind, Shaun\u0027s work was one of about 50 paintings selected from over two thousand entries. \u0022It is a great honour to be a part of such an important exhibition, important both for myself and for the increased appreciation of figurative painting in general\u0022.\u003C/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EContact Info:\u003Cbr /\u003EPhone: 416-573-5169\u003Cbr /\u003EEmail: \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:\u0026quot;shaun@shaundowney.com\u0026quot;\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eshaun@shaundowney.com\u003C/a\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003EWebsite: \u003Ca href=\u0022http://www.shaundowney.com\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ewww.shaundowney.com\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/p\u003E","Awards":null,"HasAlbums":false,"HasPortraits":true,"HasRelationships":false,"HasArticles":false,"HasDepictedPlaces":false,"HasLetters":false,"HasLibraryItems":false,"HasProducts":false,"HasSignatures":false,"HasVideos":false,"HasMapLocations":false,"TotalArtworks":48}