Maxwell Doig was born in Huddersfield and trained at Manchester School of Art. He undertook postgraduate studies at the Slade and at UCL where he also studied anatomy. In 1990 he had his first solo show with the Hart Gallery, Nottingham, and won the Joseph Webb Prize for Draughtsmanship. In the early 1990s, he was Artist in Residence at the Hochschule Der Kunst, Berlin. Returning to Huddersfield, he set up his first studio at Slaithwaite and started to explore aerial compositions. He won the Villiers David Prize in 1997 and then travelled throughout the USA, as well Australia and Mexico. He is represented by David Messum Fine Art, London.
