MACKENZIE THORPE

Mackenzie was born in 1956, the eldest of seven children. His early years were spent in a small terraced house in the town centre of Middlesborough, playing in and around the streets and back alleys of his hometown. Derelict bombed out houses provided an exciting playground for Mackenzie and his Uncle Lawrence who was three years older and a protective and guiding influence in his life.
 
Mackenzie’s father worked as a labourer and his mother was an auxiliary nurse. Life for the Thorpe family was no different to that of most of their community: he remembers the strong feeling of community spirit, the strength of individual characters, the warmth and humour that flourished in the face of adversity – and in the most unlikely of settings. But he also remembers the loneliness and isolation, the fear and the darkness that was ever present. The vivid reality of these barely faded memories is apparent in Mackenzie’s works.
 
The need and compulsion to draw was there from an early age: he would seek out and create with whatever raw materials he could find. His restless energy and concern for humanity are evident in his paintings and drawings. Whether he is depicting one of his notorious ‘square sheep’, a group of burly men hunched over their dominoes in a smoky pub or a fantasy Wild West shoot-out, his work speaks to you as compellingly as if he had slapped you on the shoulder. There is no pretension, no aloofness, just the urge to explore and communicate a deeply felt emotion.