McDonald was born in Tokyo and studied at St. Martins School of Art. He lives and works in London and Tokyo. His brother Roger McDonald is the director of Arts Initiative Tokyo. His father, originally from north London, migrated to Japan in the 50s. His mother is from east Tokyo.
He won John Moores 25 for the painting "Fontana", winning £25,000. The painting refers to the work and practice of the Italian painter Lucio Fontana, who was infamous for slashing and puncturing his paintings. McDonald's painting pictures an artist at work at the easel but has real holes in the surface of the painting. The painting was chosen from 3,222 entries, shortlisted to 40 works which were judged by Sacha Craddock, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Paul Morrison and Graham Crowley.
Exhibitions
2009 Art on the Underground, public commission for Southwark Station, London Underground
2008 Peter McDonald, Gallery Side 2, Tokyo
2008 John Moores Contemporary Painting Prize, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
2008 Imaginary Realities: Constructed Worlds in Abstract and Figurative Painting, Max Wigram Gallery, London
