Michael Petry (born 1960) is an American multi-media artist and author who lives and works in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He is director of MOCA, London (Museum of Contemporary Art London), and co-founder of the Museum of Installation, also in London. He was formerly the Curator of the

Royal Academy Schools The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

Gallery, Guest Curator at the KunstAkademi,

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, and Research Fellow at the

University of Wolverhampton The University of Wolverhampton is a public university in Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, England, located on four campuses across the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire. Originally founded in 1827 as the Wolverham ...

Life and work

Petry was born in

El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and has lived in

since 1981. Petry received a BA from

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

(Houston), an MA from

London Guildhall University London Guildhall University was a university in the United Kingdom from 1992 to 2002, established when the City of London Polytechnic was awarded university status. On 1 August 2002, it merged with the University of North London to form Londo ...

, and a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in Arts from

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated to MDX) is a public research university based in Hendon, northwest London, England. The university also has campuses in Dubai and Mauritius. The name of the university is ...

. He is the Director of MOCA, London (the Museum of Contemporary Art) and a former curator of the

Gallery. In 2009 Petry received a commission from The Ivy restaurant, London, to make a large scale glass installation called "The Network". In 2010 Petry was chosen to be the first Artist in Residence at the

Sir John Soane's Museum Sir John Soane's Museum is a Historic house museum, house museum, located next to Lincoln's Inn Fields in Holborn, London, which was formerly the home of Neoclassical architecture, neo-classical architect John Soane. It holds many drawings and ...

, London In 2015 Petry headlined Rice University's Campbell Lecture Series. The program was entitled "The Trouble with Michael: Artist and Rice Alumni Michael Petry Discusses His 30 Years of Art Production," and involved three lectures: "Growing Up in Public" (April 7, 2015), "Reading a Life" (April 8, 2015) and "The Art of Ethics" (April 9, 2015). A coinciding exhibition of Petry's work, ''At the Core of the Algorithm,'' was shown at Hiram Butler Gallery. In 2012 Petry and Travis Barker entered a Civil Partnership at the London Borough of Southwark.

Books

Petry co-authored ''Installation Art'' (

Thames & Hudson Thames & Hudson (sometimes T&H for brevity) is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, ...

, 1994), and ''Installation Art in the New Millennium'' (Thames & Hudson, 2003), and authored ''Abstract Eroticism'' (1996) and ''A Thing of Beauty is...'' ( Academy Editions, 1997). ''The Trouble with Michael'' (ArtMedia Press, 2001) is a monograph of his artistic practice. Petry's book ''Hidden Histories: 20th Century Same Sex Male Lovers in the Visual Arts'' (2004) accompanies the exhibition ''Hidden Histories'' he curated for

The New Art Gallery Walsall The New Art Gallery Walsall is a modern and contemporary art gallery in the town of Walsall, in the West Midlands, England. It was built with £21 million of public funding, including £15.75 million from the UK National Lottery and additiona ...

. He documented the exhibition in ''The International Journal of Art & Design Education'' and to expand this for publication in ''Gender Sexuality, and Museums: A Routledge Reader'' edited by Amy K. Levin. His book ''Golden Rain Volumes I & II'' is part of his project of the same name for Ha gamle prestegard's exhibition ''On the Edge'' for

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

2008,

European Capital of Culture A European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union (EU) for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong pan-European dimension. Being a European Capital of Culture can ...

. His work is included in the ''Contemporary Glass'' book by

Black Dog Publishing Black Dog Publishing is a British publishing company specialising in illustrated non-fiction books on contemporary culture. Topics covered by Black Dog include architecture, art, craft, design, environment, fashion, film, music and photograph ...

. Petry's book ''The Art of Not Making: the new artist/artisan relationship'' (Thames & Hudson, 2011) looks at artists who have work produced for them by artisans. Petry's 2013 book ''Nature Morte: Contemporary Artists Reinvigorate the Still Life Tradition'' (Thames & Hudson) revealed how leading artists of the 21st century are reinvigorating the still life, a genre previously synonymous with the 16th- and 17th-century Old Masters. ''Nature Morte'' was adapted into a touring exhibition which visited several European galleries and museums. He has also contributed chapters to various books and journals, including ''Pornographic Art and the Aesthetics of Pornography'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), ''Sculpture and Touch'' (Routledge, 2014) and ''Global Mobilities: Refugees, Exiles and Immigrants in Museums and Archives'' (Routledge, 2016). In Petry's 2018 book, ''The Word is Art'' (Thames & Hudson) he asserts the value of text in art by examining the use of text by artists from around the world, including

Bruce Nauman Bruce Nauman (born December 6, 1941) is an American artist. His practice spans a broad range of media including sculpture, photography, neon, video, drawing, printmaking, and performance. Nauman lives near Galisteo, New Mexico. Life and work ...

, Julien Breton,

Jeremy Deller Jeremy Deller (born 30 March 1966) is an English people, English conceptual, video and installation artist. Much of Deller's work is Collaboration, collaborative; it has a strong political aspect, in the subjects dealt with and also the Idealiz ...

Takashi Murakami is a Japanese contemporary artist. He works in fine arts (such as painting and sculpture) as well as commercial media (such as fashion, merchandise, and animation) and is known for blurring the line between High art, high and low arts. His wo ...

Tracey Emin Dame Tracey Karima Emin (; born 3 July 1963) is an English artist known for autobiographical and confessional artwork. She produces work in a variety of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, film, photography, Neon lighting, neon text ...

Christian Boltanski Christian Liberté Boltanski (6 September 1944 – 14 July 2021) was a French sculptor, photographer, painter, and film maker. He is best known for his photography installations and contemporary French conceptual style. Early life Boltanski wa ...

, Joe Ovelman,

Jenny Holzer Jenny Holzer (born July 29, 1950) is an American neo-conceptual artist, based in Hoosick, New York. Her work focuses on the delivery of words and ideas in public spaces and includes large-scale installations, advertising billboards, projectio ...

Ed Ruscha Edward Joseph Ruscha IV (, ''roo-SHAY''; born December 16, 1937) is an American artist associated with the anti- pop art movement. He has worked in the media of painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, and film. He is also noted for creating s ...

Glenn Ligon Glenn Ligon (born 1960, pronounced Lie-gōne) is an American conceptual artist whose work explores race, language, desire, sexuality, and identity.Meyer, Richard. "Glenn Ligon", in George E. Haggerty and Bonnie Zimmerman (eds), ''Gay Histories a ...

and more. Petry also writes regularly for ''The Huffington Post.''.

Exhibitions

* ''Laughing at Time'', Ha gamle prestegard, Norway, 2000 *''Hidden Histories: 20th Century Male Same Sex Lovers in the Visual Arts'', New Art Gallery Walsall, 2004 * ''America the Beautiful'', Sundaram Tagore Gallery, 2007 * ''Glasswear'', Museum of Arts and Design, New York, 2009 * '' Glasstress II'', 54th

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

, Venice, Italy, 2011. * ''Michael Petry: The Touch of the Oracle,''

Palm Springs Art Museum The Palm Springs Art Museum (formerly the Palm Springs Desert Museum) is a visual and performing arts institution with several locations in the Coachella Valley, in Riverside County, California, United States, founded in 1938. PSAM has been focu ...

, Palm Springs, CA, 2012. * ''AT the Core of the Algorithm'', installation for British Glass, Glazenhuis, Lommel, Belgium, 2014 * ''Frontiers Reimagined'', Museo di Palazzo Grimani, Official Collateral Event as part of the 56th International Art Exhibition of la Biennale di Venezia, 2015 * ''A Twist in Time'', solo exhibition at Pallant House Gallery, 2016 * ''At The Foot of the Gods'', installation for the Biënnale Oosterhou, Holland, 2017 * ''The WORD'', an exhibition curated by Petry for Helsinki Contemporary, Helsinki, 2017 * ''In the Realm of the Gods'', an exhibition at the

Holburne Museum The Holburne Museum (formerly known as the Holburne of Menstrie Museum and the Holburne Museum of Art) is located in Sydney Pleasure Gardens, Bath, Somerset, England. The city's first public art gallery, the Grade I listed building, is home to ...

, Bath, 2017–2018

The Art of Not Making

Petry's book ''The Art of Not Making: The New Artist/Artisan Relationship'' was adapted into a series of exhibitions which Petry curated: ''The Fabricated Object'', Sumarria Lunn Gallery, London, 2012; ''The Art of Not Making'', Ha gamle prestegard, Norway, 2013.

Nature Morte

''Nature Morte: Contemporary Artists Reinvigorate the Still Life Tradition,'' Petry's 2013 book was adapted into a touring exhibition which was presented at Ha gamle prestegard, Norway, 2015; Konsthallen-Bohusläns Museum, Sweden, 2016;

National Museum, Wrocław National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, Poland, 2017; The Guildhall Art Gallery, London, 2017–18.

Collections

Petry's work is held in the following public collections: *

Museum of Arts and Design The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), based in Manhattan, New York City, collects, displays, and interprets objects that document contemporary and historic innovation in craft, art, and design. In its exhibitions and educational programs, the ...

, New York City *

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. The permanent collection of the museum spans more than 5,000 years of history with nearly 80,000 works from six continents. Follo ...

Toledo Museum of Art The Toledo Museum of Art is an internationally known art museum located in the Old West End neighborhood of Toledo, Ohio. It houses a collection of more than 30,000 objects. With 45 galleries, it covers 280,000 square feet and is currently in th ...

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, London *The National Collection, UK *

Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany) is one of the most visited museums in Germany. Known as the ''Bundeskunsthalle'' for short, it is part of the so-called "Museum Mile" in Bonn. It holds exhibitions relating to art a ...

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

, Germany *Bellerive Museum,

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, UK *Rogaland Kunstmuseum,

, Norway *The Gallery of Art,

Legnica Legnica (; , ; ; ) is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River and the Czarna Woda. As well as being the seat of the county, since 1992 the city has been the seat of the Diocese of Legnica. Le ...

, Poland *Leopold Hoesch Museum,

Düren Düren (; Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: Düre) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between Aachen and Cologne, on the river Rur (river), Rur. History Roman era The area of Düren was part of Gallia Belgica, more specifically the ter ...

, Germany

References

External links

Petry's page at Sundaram Tagor Gallery

by Steve Rushton, 'everything', 1994
Petry's page at The Fine Art Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petry, Michael 1960 births Living people Writers from El Paso, Texas Artists from El Paso, Texas Alumni of London Guildhall University Alumni of Middlesex University Rice University alumni American emigrants to England Academics of the University of Wolverhampton Academics of the Royal College of Art Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom