Godzilla is not just another plastic toy; he is the last man standing amongst the morning-after remnants of Donoghue''s third wedding. Screwdrivers poke out of a jar like a makeshift bouquet. Donoghue's still lifes take the everyday objects of her studio and turn them into the stars of their own dramas.
The Missing Paintings of Lynn Donoghue represent a cultural loss, erasing chapters in the story of one of Canada's most visionary artists. Their absence underscores the fragility of artistic heritage and the urgent need for preservation and documentation.
This series marks a dramatic departure from Donoghue's earlier work. Seven monumental painted tarps were rediscovered in 2022 after nearly twenty years in storage. Inspired by caribou antlers gathered in the northern Alberta tundra, Donoghue transforms her solitary figure into a mythical antlered being set against stained abstract colour fields. In place of the conversational intimacy of her earlier portraits, the works evoke spirituality, desire, and emotional isolation
In this unprecedented series depicting the christening party for her only child, Donoghue is surrounded by Toronto's art community while remaining emotionally and physically isolated. The series reflects her struggle with motherhood, and her refusal to choose between being a mother and an artist when she was both.
Always available, Donoghue was her own best subject, appraising herself with a frank and unromantic eye. In this selection human emotion runs the gamut from deadpan humour to tenderness and defiance. A hallmark work, the uncharacteristically small Cauterise, painted after a 1997 operation, reveals the deep scars hidden beneath her effervescent public persona.
Using monumental scale and vibrant colour, Donoghue depicts a human connection at the heart of each piece. While most of her peers leaned toward the conceptual and minimal, she stood firm in her belief that friends and lovers were the most compelling subjects. Decades later, she is now seen as a forerunner of contemporary figuration.
A legendary dinner party staged in Donoghue's Toronto studio helped her to reimagine The Last Supper. The ambitious project spans sixteen canvases and was completed in 2003 after two years of work. Donoghue passed away shortly after finishing it. Shown just once at Easter 2004, it was celebrated as a daring exploration of spirituality and the human condition, an uncomfortable subject in the art world at the time.
Godzilla is not just another plastic toy; he is the last man standing amongst the morning-after remnants of Donoghue''s third wedding. Screwdrivers poke out of a jar like a makeshift bouquet. Donoghue's still lifes take the everyday objects of her studio and turn them into the stars of their own dramas.
