Theo Mackaay Dutch, b. 1950

Theo Mackaay (Utrecht, 1950) is a Dutch sculptor, painter and musician. Mackaay grew up in Utrecht. In 1970, he began training as a stonemason there and laid the foundation for his further development as a sculptor. He studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy from 1972 to 1976 and at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam from 1977 to 1979.

Since 1980, he has been working as an independent artist, both as a sculptor and a painter. Mackaay's style can be described as deforming figurative, with Pablo Picasso, Marino Marini and Ossip Zadkine among his sources of inspiration. In 1980, he designed one of the most famous sculptures in the Netherlands: the Golden Calf of the Dutch Film Festival. The trophy awarded by the BV Popprijs is also a design by Mackaay. Other prizes he has designed include the incentive prize for companies that employ chronically ill people and a prize for the Xena Foundation. Several of his sculptures can also be found in public spaces.

His monumental sculptures are imposing, expressive and boldly crafted. Emotional and atmospheric, his sculptures balance between vulnerability and alienation. Even in his smaller sculptures, Mackaay is a master at expressing emotions in a balanced manner. 

His paintings have the same monumentality as his sculptures: his teacher told him that he drew like a sculptor. Humans and animals are also the theme here. The human figures are recognisable but deformed into angular shapes or, conversely, organic and round, sometimes with volume and sometimes ethereal and sleek. With his animal figures, both two- and three-dimensional, Mackaay manages to move the viewer through a striking interpretation of his specific way of observation.

Just like Mackaays' personality, he creates art that not only fills the space, but also leaves a lasting impression of strength, emotion and human vulnerability, captured in stone, bronze and paint.