Mike Nelson RA (b. 1968)
Mike Nelson studied at Reading University (1986-90) and Chelsea College of Art and Design (1992 - 93).
A sculptor and installation artist, he is known for complex, site-specific constructions that disrupt and overwhelm their locations. Made from a wide range of objects and materials, they are full of cultural and subcultural references.
Whilst his work is stylistically aligned to the installations of Edward & Nancy Kienholz, its symbolic nature links it to the gendered and politicised installations of the 1980s and 1990s by artists such as Ann Hamilton and Ilya Kabakov.
He represented Britain at the Venice Biennale in 2011 and has twice been nominated for the Turner Prize (2001 and 2007). In 2018 his work Untitled (public sculpture for a redundant space) was awarded the Wollaston Award for the most distinguished work in the Summer Exhibition.
Mike Nelson is represented by 303 Gallery, New York; Galleria Franco Noero, Turin; Matt’s Gallery, London; and neugerriemschneider, Berlin.
Profile
Born: 1968 in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
Nationality: British
Elected RA: 30 May 2013
Professor of Sculpture: 2019 - 2023
Gender: Male
Preferred media: Sculpture
Works by Mike Nelson in the RA Collection
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Selected CV
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Recent solo exhibitions
2017 The Everywhere Studio, The Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami
Cloak of rags (Tale of dismembered bank, rendered in blue), Galleria Franco Noero, Turin
2016 ‘Amnesiac Shrine or The misplacement…’, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam
Cloak, Nouveau Musée National de Monaco, Monaco (offsite project)
Procession, process. Progress, progression. Regression, recession. Recess, regress., Galleria Franco Noero, Turin
Sensory Spaces 8, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam
Imperfect Geometry for a Concrete Quarry, Kalkbrottet, Limhamn, Malmö
2015 Mike Nelson, 303 Gallery, New York
2014 Eighty Circles Through Canada, Tramway, Glasgow
Studio Apparatus for Kunsthalle Munster, Kunsthalle Munster, Munster
Amnesiac Hide, The Power Plant, Toronto
2013 Mike Nelson, CAG – Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver
More things (To the memory of Honoré de Balzac), Matt’s Gallery, London
M6, EastSide Projects, Birmingham -
Selected collections
Arts Council Collection
British Council Collection, London
Hayward Gallery, London
MAMCO, Geneva, Switzerland
Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
The New Art Gallery, Walsall
RISD Museum, Providence, Rhode Island
Rennie Collection, Vancouver
Tate Collection, London
V-A-C Collection, Moscow
Zabludowicz Collection, London -
Awards and residencies
2018 Wollaston Award, Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition
2007 Shortlisted for the Turner Prize, Tate Liverpool
2001 Shortlisted for the Turner Prize, Tate Britain
Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award
1998-01 Sculpture Research Fellow, Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh
1996-7 Berwick Gymnasium Fellowship, Berwick-upon-Tweed (6 month residency, Oct 96-Apr 97)
1996 Shortlist Award, Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award to Individual Artists: Sculpture & Installation
Pepinieres europeennes pour jeunes artistes (3 month residency, May - July), Bucharest
1995 London Arts Board Grant to Individual Artists
1993 First prize winner - Economist Summer Show, London
1990 Boise Travel Scholarship - Egypt, Turkey, Syria, North America, Mexico
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