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Leo Macdonald Oulds

@leomacdonaldoulds

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Upcoming: Panel talk at Hypha Southbank, November 7th. Free tickets: https://buytickets.at/hyphastudios/2496321

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Discover @leomacdonaldoulds’ fresco, In Praise of Folly, Tollhouse of Knowledge
Version (2026) in To the Wonder, closing on November 15 🪽🏹

In the exhibition guide, @leomacdonaldoulds writes:
‘‘This work came from a growing file of figurative references, labelled ‘two faced motifs’.
They bring a playful trickster type of presence, helping to negotiate an ambivalence
between sentimentality and distrust of Romantic English Landscape Painting. Recently
I have been looking at Lisa Brice’s use of figure ground relationships. What is made to
appear or disappear becomes significant imagistic and conceptual content. This
painting plays with these ideas through archaeologically layered materiality of fresco,
using sgraffito to reveal that which is historically concealed’.

@leomacdonaldoulds will participate in the panel discussion chaired by Dr. Ben Street @thebenstreet this Saturday 7 November, alongside @reninbilginerstudio, @maddalenazadra and @nat_kochan ✨ free ticket in link in bio 🏹

To the Wonder, open 12-6pm Thursday-Sunday at @hyphastudios, 42 Southwark Bridge Road 🏛️

(1) @leomacdonaldoulds, In Praise of Folly, Tollhouse of Knowledge
Version (2026), Buon Fresco and Sgrafitto (2) curated alongside @eveveveoc’s Arch I
(2026) Roman Fresco on aluminium honeycomb panel by @leomacdonaldoulds

Looking forward to taking part in this upcoming panel talk chaired by Dr Ben Street @thebenstreet at ‘To The Wonder’, an exhibition curated by @salomejt_ at @hyphastudios Southbank Gallery. Book free tickets here : https://buytickets.at/hyphastudios/2496321 Photos: @sarah.larby.photo by @leomacdonaldoulds

To the Wonder is open at @hyphastudios, 42 Southwark Bridge Road, until November 15th, every Thursday-Sunday 12-6pm. 🏛️✨

Exhibiting artists:
Renin Bilginer @reninbilginerstudio
Tommy Camerno @tommycamerno
Natalya Marconini Falconer @natalyamfalc
Parham Ghalamdar @parham.ghalamdar
Nat Kochan @nat_kochan
Graham Silveria Martin @grahamsilveriamartin
Jack McGarrity @jack__mcgarrity
Eve O’Callaghan @eveveveoc
Leo Macdonald Oulds @leomacdonaldoulds
Felipe Pineda @felipes.pinedas
Gal Schindler @galssschindler
Diana Taylor @diana_taylor_studio
Marcos Wolodarsky @marcoswolodarsky
Maddalena Zadra @maddalenazadra

All my gratitude to @hyphastudios for their support and for their generosity, @a_gilmour for the incredible work on install, @markytomtom & @ficklestix for our beautiful vinyl, and @sarah.larby.photo for all documentation ❤️

(1) @leomacdonaldoulds, In Praise of Folly, Tollhouse of Knowledge Version (2026) Buon Fresco and Sgraffitto & @eveveveoc Arch I (2026), Roman Fresco on Aluminium Honeycomb
(2) @parham.ghalamdar Archeological Site No. NYZ (2026) Glazed Ceramic, Black Clay body with Blue and Gold Glaze & detail of @maddalenazadra’s Passenger (2026), Monotype, Acrylic and Thread on Canvas by @leomacdonaldoulds

Leo Macdonald Oulds’ paintings question the representation of the English landscape in the 21st century. He collages fragments from 18th century English landscape painting, vernacular photography and post-war architecture, challenging our collective memory from the interiors of enlightenment to modernist utopias.
Threshold architectural spaces are fragmented with stylistic and spatial slippages, framing and obscuring the landscape, blurring the lines between the man made and natural, the real and the illusionistic. His paintings interrupt picturesque presentation, questioning the enduring effects of Romanticism’s separation of the human from the natural.

Leo’s practice unearths the ideological and physical construction of the English landscape with the materials of its built environment: Buxton lime plaster, Manchester red brick dust, Carrara marble dust, and cement. Recent frescos excavate beyond the surface of imagery revealing the material reality of their construction.

Leo’s work has been supported by Arts Council England DYCP, and the Eaton Fund, developing the use of fresco as a portable painting technique, unifying his painting practice with his experience working in the Heritage construction trade. Fresco uses locally available earth materials, a non toxic process which absorbs c02 as it dries. Dried plaster can be endlessly remixed, creating a closed-loop system where the ground is perpetually renewable.

Portrait by @jay.s.johnson
T shirt by @winnie_hall by @leomacdonaldoulds

Loggia 2, 2026, buon fresco on aluminium honeycomb board with aluminium frame.
(Buxton lime plaster, Manchester red brick dust, Carrara marble dust, sand, goat hair and cement). by @leomacdonaldoulds

Loggia 1, 2026, buon fresco on aluminium honeycomb board with aluminium frame. ( Buxton lime plaster, Manchester red brick dust, Carrara marble dust, sand, cement, goat hair and expanded metal lath.) by @leomacdonaldoulds

In Praise of Folly, (Tollhouse of Knowledge Version).
Buon Fresco and Sgrafitto in Aluminium Frame, 60 x 80 cm. Photo @bjdeakin_photography for @turpsstudioprogramme by @leomacdonaldoulds

‘Fieldwork’, 60x80cm, Buon fresco and sgrafitto on panel in aluminium frame. by @leomacdonaldoulds

‘Where Tudorbethan Reigned’,
Buon fresco in aluminium tray frame, 60 x 90 cm. by @leomacdonaldoulds

‘The Traveller Hasteth in the Evening’ Buon Fresco and Roman Fresco on aluminium honeycomb board, 120x80 cm. by @leomacdonaldoulds

‘Funny Weather: Stratocumulus’. Buon Fresco on stone veneer, 20x30cm. by @leomacdonaldoulds

Polite Society 2, Buon Fresco on Panel, 40 x 30 cm. by @leomacdonaldoulds