Michael John Whelan
Video Installation
Film
Photography
Objects
Paper & Sound
Info
News
CV
Born in Dublin, Ireland.



Selected Solo Exhibitions

2020_
Nocturnes, Grey Noise, Dubai.

2017_
The Good Soil, Grey Noise, Dubai.

2016_
Yellow Amber Grey Amber, Rua Red, Dublin. - curated by Paul McAree.*
Darwin's Finches, Boetzelaer | Nispen, Amsterdam.

2015_
Only in, Vitrine Project Space, London - curated by Amanda Abi Khalil.

2014_
Lupus, Grey Noise, Dubai - curated by Eamonn Maxwell.

2013_
Foreign Sunrise, Boetzelaer | Nispen, Amsterdam.
The sun shone on the nothing new, Lismore Castle Arts, St. Carthage Hall, Lismore.*
A Petite Fair with Boetzelaer | Nispen, Amsterdam.

2012_
Understanding Magnetism, Grey Noise, Dubai.
The Birth and Death of Stars, Boetzelaer | Nispen, London.

2009_
Under the receding wave, Kunstverein Bochum.

2008_
Dirt. Geometry., Reimann le Begue, Düsseldorf.
The Meeting, Clifford Chance LLP, Canary Wharf, London.

2005_
Clifford Chance Contemporary Sculpture Programme, Canary Wharf, London.


Selected Group Exhibitions / Screenings

2021_
Abstracte kunst bestaat niet, curated by Frank Maes, EMERGENT, Veurne, Belgium.
Leviathan: A Capitalocene Beastiarium, curated by Tuce Erel, Top Transdisciplinary Project Space, Berlin.
SEQUENCE: Videokunstprogramm im öffentlichen Raum, curated by Reinhard Buskies, Haus der Kortum-Gesellschaft/Kunstverein Bochum.*
Die Balkone - Scratching the Surface, curated by Övül Ö. Durmusoglu & Joanna Warsza, various locations, Berlin.

2020_
A Picture held us captive, curated by Nada Raza, Abu Dhabi Art (online)
Diurnal (with Joana Escoval), Grey Noise/artintouch.in (online)
The Memoirs of a Madman, curated by Amanda Abi Khalil, covideo19.art (online)

2019_
Vienna Biennale + MAK Design Lab - curated by Marlies Wirth, MAK - Austrian Museum of Applied Arts /
Contemporary Art, Vienna.
From the Mountain - curated by Catherine Bowe, Wexford Arts Centre, Wexford.
Circadian Rhythms - curated by Chris Clarke and Fiona Kearney, The Glucksman Gallery, Cork.

2018_
Crude - curated by Murtaza Vali, Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai.*
CONDO UNIT Athens with Grey Noise, Dubai - hosted by The Breeder, Athens.
Peindre la nuit - curated by Jean-Marie Gallais, Centre Pompidou-Metz, France.*
TRACES - curated by Brigitte Bloksma and Paul McAree, Kasteel Wijlre, Netherlands.*
The Long Now, me Collectors Room, Berlin, Germany.*
The Long Now, Kunstverein Bochum, Germany.*
Ghost Nets, (with Julieta Aranda, Saâdane Afif, Valerie Chartrain, Natalie Czech, Jean-Pascal Flavien, Liam Gillick, Pedro Neves Marques, Trevor Paglen & Anri Sala), Galeria OMR, Mexico City.
moonshow, (with Caline Aoun, Charbel-joseph H. Boutros, Fahd Burki, Mehreen Murtaza & Stéphanie Saadé - curated by Saira Ansari), Grey Noise, Dubai.
Hydrogen Helium, Alserkal Project Space, Dubai.

2017_
Visions of Nature (incl. Darren Almond, Andreas Gursky, Axel Hütte, Myoung Ho Lee & Simone Nieweg - curated by Verena Kaspar-Eisert), Kunst Haus Wien, Austria.
Systema Naturae (with Ann Böttcher, Sanna Kannisto, Eva-Fiore Kovacovsky, Kustaa Saksi & Salla Tykkä - curated by Mirja Majevski), Kunsthall Stavanger, Norway.

2016_
SPRING 1883 Melbourne with Grey Noise, Dubai.
A Weed is a Plant out of Place, (incl. Pierpaolo Campanini, Susan Hartnett, Michael Landy & Pae White - curated by Allegra Pesenti), Lismore Castle Arts, Ireland.*
but even if I cannot see the sun, (with Charbel-joseph H. Boutros, Marco Godinho, Lala Rukh & Sail Into Night), Grey Noise, Dubai.
White Cube...Literally - On form and convention of display, (incl. Eduardo Abaroa, Wilfredo Prieto, Ilya & Emilia Kabakov - curated by Amanda Abi Khalil), Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, Dubai.

2015_
TULCA Festival of Visual Arts, Ireland. - curated by Mary Cremin.*
KURZ / DUST (film program), Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland. - curated by Anna Ptak & Amanda Abi Khalil.*
when all seemingly stands still, Grey Noise, Dubai. - curated by Amanda Abi Khalil.
Aesthetica Short Film Festival (official selection), York, UK.*
MONO2, Courtyard Theatre, London.
Art Dubai with Grey Noise, Dubai.
Art Rotterdam with Boetzelaer | Nispen, Amsterdam.

2014_
The Language of Human Consciousness, (incl. Rasheed Araeen, Monir Fatimi, Sol LeWitt & Keith Tyson), Athr Gallery, Jeddah.
Notes from the Field, (incl. Dara Gill, Alexandre Singh & Nina Yuen - curated by Melissa Keys), Margaret Lawrence Gallery, Australia.*
Unseen Fair Amsterdam with Boetzelaer | Nispen, Amsterdam.
Geisterstädte - Utopie - Architektur, (incl. Gordon Matta-Clark, Cyprien Gaillard, Marina Abramovic and Ulay, Monica Bonvicini & John Smith), presented by Julia Stoschek Collection and KAI 10 | Arthena Foundation, Abraham Building, Neuss.
Past, Favourite, Recent, Boetzelaer | Nispen, Amsterdam.
Art Dubai with Grey Noise, Dubai.

2013_
LISTE 18 with Grey Noise, Dubai.
Art Dubai with Grey Noise, Dubai.
Backwards into Paradise, (with Seamus Harahan, Lorraine Neeson, Tom Smith & Nadim Vardag), Flood, Dublin.

2012_
Amsterdam Drawing 2012 with Boetzelaer | Nispen, Amsterdam.
Bis hier - 50 Jahre Kunstverein Bochum (incl. Stephan Balkenhol, Martin Brand, Katharina Grosse & Rolf Julius), Museum Bochum.*
Performing Transition curated by Necmi Sönmez, Kiasma Theatre, Helsinki.
vac.u.um (with Saira Ansari, Fahd Burki, Ayesha Jatoi, Nadia Khawaja, Basir Mahmood & Mehreen Murtaza), Grey Noise, Dubai.
KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen (with Olaf Nicolai & Tamara Grcic), Hannover.*

2011_
Artissima 18 with Grey Noise, Dubai.
Taste my photons (incl. Ruth van Beek, Bert Dankaert, Eric Jan van de Geer, Sabrina Jung & Ingo Mittelstaedt - curated by Wim Bosch), Noorderlicht Gallery, Groningen.

2010_
Cinematic (with Laas Abenroth, Cyprien Gaillard & Clemens von Wedemeyer), Kunstverein Bremerhaven.
Caisson part 1 (collaboration with Aleana Egan), Tilsiter Lichtspiele Cinema, Berlin.*
Where Gravity Makes You Float (incl. Kristina Bengtsson, Henrik Menne, Josefine Lyche & Sinta Werner - curated by Silja Leifsdottir), Grimmuseum, Berlin.
Display: Videokunst im öffentlichen Raum (with Ulrich Polster, Vadim Schäffler, Thomas Lüer & Juliane Ebner), Fassade der DEKA Bank, Frankfurt.
Void (with Thomas Dillmann & Benjamin Rubloff - curated by Christoph Kivelitz), Galerie Robert Drees, Hannover.
Equinox part 1: Speederbike primitive, Grimmuseum, Berlin.
Equinox part 2: Highlight what you love, Grimmuseum, Berlin.

2009_
Compound, Space Delawab, Belfast.

2007_
Trace (with Paul Jackson), The Arts Gallery, London.*
In Flagranti II: Schnittstellen von Fotografie, Video und Malerei (with Wim Bosch, Doris Frohnapfel & Marc Lüders - curated by Christoph Kivelitz), Dortmund Kunstverein, Dortmund.*

2006_
In Flagranti I: Schnittstellen von Fotografie, Video und Malerei (with Eric Jan van de Geer & Dirk Braeckman - curated by Christoph Kivelitz), Dortmund Kunstverein, Dortmund.*

2005_
Field (with Clodagh Emoe, Martina Mullaney & Michael Sheppard), Contemporary Art Projects, London.
Bathers (with Gary Coyle, AK Dolven & Justine Pearsall), Temple Bar Gallery & Studios, Dublin.



Publications
Peindre la nuit − 240 pages, 24.8 x 32.7cm published by Centre Pompidou-Metz (2018)
Crude − 92 pages, 21 x 14.8cm, published by Art Jameel (2018)
Traces − 48 pages, 21 x 14.8cm, published by Kasteel Wijlre (2018)
Visions of Nature − 112 pages, 21 x 27cm, published by KUNST HAUS WIEN (2017)
A weed is a plant out of place − 64 pages, 21 x 14.8cm, published by Lismore Castle Arts (2016)
Yellow Amber Grey Amber − 32 pages, 21 x 14.8cm, with folded dust jacket, published by Rua Red, Dublin (2016)
The sun shone on the nothing new − 44 pages, 21 x 14.8cm, published by Grey Noise/Lismore Castle Arts, Dubai/Waterford (2013)
Caisson (part 1) − 20 pages, 21 x 14.8cm (2010)
Red Sky Morning − 144 pages, 21 x 14.8cm, published by Argobooks, Berlin (2009)
Feint (zine), guest edited by Aleana Egan, Issue 12, (2009)
In Flagranti: Schnittstellen von Fotografie, Video und Malerei − published by Kunstverein Dortmund (2006/07)



Residencies
2019_Air 351 Residency, Cascais, Portugal.
2018_Alserkal Residency, Dubai, UAE.
2015_TAJ Residency & SKE Projects, Bangalore, India.



Education
2004_MA Fine Art, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, England.
2002_BA Fine Art, Institute of Art, Design and Technology Dun Laoghaire, Ireland.



Press
Art Monthly (print and online), Nocturnes in Letter from Dubai by Nadine Khalil, December 2020 - Jan, 2021
Art Monthly (print and online), Primary Organs reviewed by Saira Ansari, July - August, 2020
ArtForum (print and online), Crude/Aqua Lung reviewed by Douglas Coupland, Summer 2019
ART PAPERS, dossier on Svalbard edited by Stephanie Bailey, November/December 2016
A remote part of Norway where life is kept frozen, Aidan Dunne, The Irish Times, 09.08.2016 - view
Darwin's Finches featured on Art Viewer (Online) 11.06.2016 - view
Darwin's Finches reviewed by Lucette ter Borg in NRC Handelsblad (Dutch National newspaper), 12.05.2016
Darwin's Finches reviewed by Sophia Zuercher in Het Parool (Amsterdam newspaper) - 21.05.2016
but even if I cannot see the sun reviewed by Ipek Ulusoy Akgül, Art Asia Pacific, March-April 2016
Only In, Art Monthly No.384, p29 & 30, March 2015
Michael John Whelans Lupus, Rachel Bennett, FAD (Online), 29.11.2014
A show in Dubai is an ode to Irelands extinct wolves, Jyoti Kalsi, Gulf News, 27.11.2014
Galerierondje Amsterdam West, Kunstbeeld.nl (Online), 11.2013
Dust Magazine (Online), 06.2013
Fatal Attraction: Artist Michael John Whelans Ongoing Show Explores the Science of Magnetism, Blouin ARTINFO (Online), 01.10.2012
Forces of nature direct Michael John Whelan's new art show, The National (Print), 10.09.2012
Sexy Langsamkeit, Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, 30.01.2010 (Print)
Gleißendes Licht Über dem See, Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (Print), 21.03.2009
Michael J. Whelan und die Kunst der Entschleunigung, Ruhr Nachrichten (Print), 07.03.2009
Paul Jackson & MJ Whelan, Martin Coomer, Time Out London (Print), 08.2007
Balance-Akte mit der Realität, Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (Print), 20.10.2006
'in flagranti' beim Kunstverein, Westfälische Rundschau (Print), 20.10.2006
Fascinating bodies of Work, Aidan Dunne, The Irish Times (Print), 06.07.2005
Swimming against the Tide, Cristin Leach, The Sunday Times (Print), 10.07.2005



Awards
2021/22 - Arts Council of Ireland - Reel Art Award
2021/22 - Arts Council of Ireland - Project Award
2021 - Stiftung Kunstfonds - Project Award
2020 - Arts Council of Ireland - Bursary Award
2019 - Arts Council of Ireland - Bursary Award
2018 - Arts Council of Ireland - Bursary Award
2017 - Senate of Berlin Research Grant
2016 - Arts Council of Ireland - Project Award
2015 - Arts Council of Ireland - Travel and Training Award
2014 - Culture Ireland Exhibition Award
2012 - Culture Ireland Exhibition Award
2011 - Culture Ireland Exhibition Award
2009 - Arts Council of Ireland - Bursary Award
2008 - Arts Council of Ireland - Bursary Award
2008 - Arts Council of Ireland - Projects: New Work Award
2007 - Culture Ireland Exhibition Award



Collections
Arts Council of Ireland Collection
University of the Arts, London Collection
MLP Collection, London
Institute of Art, Design and Technology Dun Laoghaire Collection
Multiple private collections



*indicates catalogue









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