Bio/CV
Mike Perry is a British photographic artist, born 1960. After a post graduate degree in economics and 15 years in media, Perry moved from London to West Wales to focus on his art career.
Perry’s work resists easy categorisation. Photography is central to his practice, yet always in its multifaceted relationship to and dialogue with painting and drawing, sculpture and installation art. His first public solo exhibitions were at The Photographers’ Gallery (Beach 2004, Inland 2007) and in 2007 he was chosen to represent the west of Britain in BBC4’s documentary, A Digital Picture Of Britain. In 2009, Perry won Best Picture at Christie’s of London 25th Anniversary photographic competition and in 2012 he was included in New Ground: Landscape Art in Wales since 1970 curated by National Museum Wales, alongside Richard Long, David Nash and Keith Arnatt.
Perry is best known for his large scale photographs that combine painterly aesthetics with environmental degradation (Wet Deserts 2009-2019) and his forensic photographs of plastic objects washed up on the coast of West Wales (Môr Plastig 2012-2018). Work from his Môr Plastig series was included in The Black and White Room curated by artist Cornelia Parker at The Royal Academy of Arts in 2014, at Vita Vitale at The 56th Venice Biennale in 2015 and at the Found exhibition at the Foundling Museum in 2016. Also in 2016, Perry’s Abereiddi landscapes were included in The Colour Of The Earth: Art and the Material Landscape curated by National Museum Wales. In 2017, work from his Wet Deserts series was included in The British Arts Council Collection exhibition A Green and Pleasant Land. British Landscape and The Imagination : 1970s til Now at Towner Art Gallery.
In 2015, Perry was awarded a Creative Wales Award and in 2017/18 his solo exhibition Land/Sea sponsored by Ffotogallery and Arts Council Wales toured Plymouth Arts Centre, Ffotogallery, Mostyn Gallery and Aberystwyth Arts Centre. In 2018, he was chosen to showcase Wales at the Interceltique Arts Festival in Lorient, France. His work is in several institutional collections including National Museum Wales.
In parallel with his art career, Perry has been involved with many environmental projects. He has worked with Greenpeace, was a founding director of solarcentury with Greenpeace’s ex head of science , Jeremy Leggett, attended the first Tipping Point symposium on climate change between leading scientists and artists at Oxford University, and is in the process of rewilding a small holding in West Wales.
Solo Exhibitions
2018 – Land/Sea (Tir/Môr), Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Wales more
2018 – Land/Sea (Tir/Môr), Interceltique Festival Lorient, France more
2018 – Land/Sea(Tir/Môr), Mostyn Gallery, Wales more
2017 – Land/Sea (Tir/Môr), Ffotogallery Touring Exhibition, England and Wales more
– Land/Sea (Tir/Môr), Plymouth Arts Centre more
2015 – Artist in Residence exhibition, National Museum Wales at Oriel Y Parc, Wales more
2013 – Môr Plastig at ICIA, Institute For Contemporary and Interdisciplinary Arts, England more
2007 – Inland, The Photographers’ Gallery, London more
2005 – Landscape, Galerie Trabant, Vienna, Austria
2004 – Beach, The Photographers’ Gallery, London more
Group Exhibitions
2018 – Art Made Now Royal Academy of Arts 250th Summer Exhibition. Invited artist, Gallery VIII more
2017 – A Green and Pleasant Land. British Landscape and the Imagination: 1970s to Now, Towner Art Gallery, England more
2016 – The Colour Of The Earth: Art and the Material Landscape. National Museum Wales more
– Sea Fever, De Queeste Art, Belgium. Collaboration with Bruno Van Dijck, Philip Gross, Pete Judge… more
– Llanw Plas Glyn-y-Weddw, Wales, with Alex Duncan, supported by Welsh Arts Council more
– Found, Foundling Museum, London. Inc. Tacita Dean, Jeremy Deller, Anthony Gormley… more
2015 – Vita Vitale, exhibition at 56th Venice Biennale 2015, created by International Dialogue for Environmental Action more
2015 – Future Fossils, curated Yulia Topchiy and Tess Thackara, Dutton, New York more
2014 – The Black & White Room curated by Cornelia Parker at The Royal Academy of Arts, London more
– ‘Here Today…’, Old Sorting Office, London, including Gavin Turk, Tracey Emin, Peter Blake… more
– Didn’t We Have A Lovely Time, The Photographers’ Gallery, London more
2013 – Môr Plastig, Contemporary Arts Exhibition, National Eisteddfod of Wales more
2012 – New Ground: Landscape Art in Wales since 1970, National Museum Of Wales more
– Unseen, Westergafabriek, Amsterdam, The Photographers’ Gallery, London more
– Oriel Davies Open, Môr Plastig, Oriel Davies Gallery, Powys, Wales more
2011 – The Earth Only Endures, The Photographers’ Gallery at Stone Theatre, London more
2009 – HHA competition and competition, Christie’s, London. Winner Best Picture more
– British Landscape Photography, curated by The Photographers’ Gallery, London more
2008 – Ecology and Art, The Royal Society for the Arts, London more
– Oasis, Gana Art, Seoul, Korea more
2007 – Transition Gallery, London
2005 – Landscape, 5th International Photo Festival, Seoul, Korea
– Photo London, Royal Academy. Abereiddi series, showcased by The Photographers’ Gallery
2004 – Paris Photo, Carousel De Louvre, The Photographers’ Gallery
– Group show at Transition Gallery, London as part of E9 project more
– Photo London. Royal Academy. Exhibited by The Photographers Gallery
2003 – Robert Sandleson Gallery, London, curated by Tom Morton of Frieze Magazine
Awards / Commissions
2017 – Land/Sea, Touring Solo Exhibition curated by Ffotogallery, sponsored by Arts Council Wales
2015 – Creative Wales Award, awarded by Arts Council Wales more
– Coastal Currents Artist in Residence at Oriel Y Parc/National Museum of Wales more
2014 – Arts Council Wales, Research Residency, Elan Valley Project
2009 – Christies HHA Commission, Winner Best Picture more
2007 – BBC 4 Arts Television. Featured Artist in documentary, Britain In Pictures
2002 – Commissioned by NextLevel Magazine for Breaking Oil, text by Bianca Jagger
– Astral America Project Commissioned by Prada/Huntergather with Tom Hunter more
Publications
2017 – Metamodernism Performatist Photography: Experiencing Beauty and Transcendence after Postmodernism
by Raul Eshelman, pp191-194 more
– Land/Sea exhibition catalogue published by Ffotogallery, edited by David Drake. Printed by Industria Grafica SIZ
2015 – CCQ Magazine, Issue 7, p62-p65 – Something Rich and Strange, interview with Emma Geliot on Venice Biennale more
– Irenebrination, Human Debris and Flip-Flops Archives: Mike Perry’s ‘Môr Plastig’ at Venice Biennale
2013 – ICIA Exhibition Catalogue – Môr Plastig: introduction by Lindsay Hughes more
– Skye Sherwin Review – Môr Plastig more
2009 – Exhibition Catalogue – The Earth Only Endures, words by Skye Sherwin more
– NextLevel – Collectors Issue, In Conversation with Charles Dunstone, Edition 19 more
– Next Level Magazine, September 2009, Below The Surface, feature
– Gaia Magazine, September 2009 Germany, Front Cover, Beach 17 more
– Greenpeace Magazine, July 20019, centre spread, Germany, Beach 9 more
2006 – The Poacher, Art Portfolio, GQ more
2005 – Abereiddi, by Craig Burnett, NextLevel Magazine more
2004 – Grand Canyon Forest. Article by Tom Morton in NextLevel Magazine, November 2004 more
– Art Review Magazine. Beach 17, featured as part of review of Photo London, May 2004 more
– Dazed & Confused Magazine. Page article and review of Beach work, May 2004
– GREAT, The photographers’ Gallery Publication, Preview of April show, 2004
– Arena Magazine. Feature on Beach and review of book, March 2004
2003 – Beach, essay by Craig Burnett, London: NextLevel and Thames & Hudson more
– Cactus photograph published in NextLevel. as part of End Of Imagination article by Arundhati Roy, March 2003 more
– Frankfurter Rundschau. Review of Abereiddi and Beach book, December 2003 more
2002 – Breaking Oil, ‘US Flag’, NextLevel Magazine, text by Bianca Jagger more
– Front cover and 4 page editorial in first issue of NextLevel, February 2002 more