Biography
Ross McDonnell is an Irish printmaker working in mokuhanga (Japanese water-based woodblock printing) at Graphic Studio Dublin. His mokuhanga 'Little Michael' (2020, 26 × 34 cm, edition of 10) was selected for the Kanreki exhibition mounted by Graphic Studio Dublin to mark its 60th anniversary, the cohort organised around a brief that all participating artists incorporate the colour red. The exhibition was shown at The Model, Sligo (2020), Graphic Studio Gallery, Dublin (April 2021), and travelled to the 9th International Mokuhanga Conference satellite event at Nara Prefectural Cultural Hall (30 November to 4 December 2021).
The Kanreki cohort placed McDonnell among 24 Graphic Studio Dublin members and invited Japan-based artists, alongside Robert Russell, Geraldine O'Reilly, Jennifer Lane, Niamh Flanagan, Mateja Šmic, Vaida Varnagienė, Elke Thönnes, Helen O'Sullivan, Susan Mannion, Mary Grey, Louise Leonard, Debra Bowden, Kari Cahill, plus Yoko Akino, Katsutoshi Yuasa, and Paul Furneaux as Japan-affiliated invitees. The 'Little Michael' title and 26 × 34 cm format are consistent with the typical scale used across the Kanreki cohort.
Note: an Irish filmmaker and photographer named Ross McDonnell (born Dublin) is widely documented in unrelated film and photography contexts (Ballymun 'Joyrider' photo series, 2019 Prix Pictet shortlist for 'Limbs') but is a distinct person from the Graphic Studio Dublin printmaker who is the subject of this entry. Public-facing biographical detail on the printmaker — birth year, training history, exhibition output beyond the Kanreki cohort — is limited; the verified anchor is the Kanreki/IMC selection of 'Little Michael' as a working mokuhanga print at Graphic Studio Dublin.
For Hanga's purposes, Ross McDonnell qualifies as a Kanreki-cohort verified mokuhanga printmaker with one documented edition; further biographical research would benefit from direct outreach to Graphic Studio Dublin or future appearance in published GSD catalogues.
Key Facts
- Nationality
- 🇮🇪Ireland
- Movement
- Contemporary Mokuhanga
- Works Indexed
- 1
Frequently Asked Questions
Ross McDonnell is an Irish printmaker working in mokuhanga (Japanese water-based woodblock printing) at Graphic Studio Dublin. His mokuhanga 'Little Michael' (2020, 26 × 34 cm, edition of 10) was selected for the Kanreki exhibition mounted by Graphic Studio Dublin to mark its 60th anniversary, the cohort organised around a brief that all participating artists incorporate the colour red. The exhibition was shown at The Model, Sligo (2020), Graphic Studio Gallery, Dublin (April 2021), and travelled to the 9th International Mokuhanga Conference satellite event at Nara Prefectural Cultural Hall (30 November to 4 December 2021).
Ross McDonnell's work was shaped by the Contemporary Mokuhanga tradition in Japanese woodblock printmaking. Contemporary Mokuhanga: Contemporary mokuhanga (literally "wood-block print") encompasses artists working from approximately 1970 to the present who continue or reinvent traditional Japanese woodblock printing techniques.