MICHAEL PORTER

 

 

Michael Porter (b. 1948) studied at Derby College of Art, Chelsea School of Art and trained as a Fellow in Fine Art at Gloucester College of Art in 1973, thereafter lecturing in major Art Schools in the UK and Europe.

 

Artist in Residence at the National Gallery, as well as the Albers Foundation in Connecticut, Michael has received many awards, the Lorne Award London University, honorary doctorate Derby University and Honorary Fellow at University College Falmouth.

 

From his early years in Derbyshire exploring its natural beauty and moving to Cornwall in 1997 Michael has always been immersed in the landscape.  Whilst respecting the native tradition of landscape painting he has reinvented this art form through his intense scrutiny of the world around him, creating an almost metaphysical depth of layering throughout his work.

 

Wherever his travels take him, Michael is out walking and exploring, taking notes and photographs which become the basis from which he puts acrylic onto paper or canvas creating his complex images: rocks vying for position, water rushing down a stream, sensing what is beneath and leaving it to the viewer to seek for more.

 

I have admired and collected Michael’s work for many years when l first saw his work at Pomeroy Purdy (subsequently Purdy Hicks) in 1991.

 

Michael has exhibited widely and his work is in many private and public collections worldwide.