Cecil McDonald Jr.

Courtesy of the artist.

Cecil McDonald Jr. is most interested in the intersections of masculinity, familial relations, and Black culture's artistic and intellectual pursuits, particularly as this culture intersects with and informs the larger culture. Through photography, video, and dance/performance, he investigates and questions the norms and customs governing our understanding of each other, our families, and myriad societal struggles and triumphs. McDonald calls the storied South Side of Chicago his home and creative wellspring. 

McDonald’s work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, with works in the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP), Chicago; Cleveland Museum of Art; Chicago Bank of America LaSalle Collection; and the Harris Bank Collection, Chicago. McDonald has received the Joyce Foundation Midwest Voices & Visions Award; the Artadia Award; the Swiss Benevolent Society, Lucerne, Switzerland, Residency; and the 3Arts Teaching Artist Award. He studied fashion, house music, and dance club culture before receiving an MFA in photography at Columbia College Chicago. He currently serves as an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Photography at Columbia College Chicago and lecturer in the Department of Photography at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His most recent project, The Heat of the Cool, was published in 2023.