Artist Statement
I am a visual artist and writer based in Brooklyn, New York. My work is multimedia and encompasses sculpture, installation, video, photography, print, performance and critical writing. It is broadly concerned with electronic culture – or more specifically the set of technologies, human interactions and ideologies that might be said to be shaped by Moore’s Law. My art and my writing places these electronic phenomena within a context of other historical moments of intensification within communication or transportation technologies.
I’m particularly interested in the misuses of technologies and communication systems – finding or stumbling upon uses that are inherent, if not advertised. To this end, I have collected and followed spam email trails from Nigeria through server farms in Western Virginia; turned user-added spellcheck words into text portraits revelatory of a certain type of labor in time and space; I’ve made neon signs from mis-spelled spam emails and out of date bar codes; I hack ATMs to alter their welcome screens and receipts; I’ve also written about the picaresque figures who exploited the 19th century American railroads for crime and who in doing so inadvertently beta-tested new modes of subjectivity, as space shrank and human ranges of experience changed with them. As these con artists worked the network they acted as a kind of dye in the water that showed how those changes were unfolding. In my book “Fair Use (notes from spam)” I tried to map these historical moments onto contemporary spam and phishing scams to describe a persistent anomie in modernity.
This year I have been working on a project called “The Sport” – named after another itinerant figure from early 20th century American folklore. It’s a threefold project:
1) Historical research into these figures and their movements from 1870-1920, at a time of industrial and transportation intensification.
2) A new multi-media project and book that functions as a cultural history of a single 2004 message board thread from a soccer fan website, documenting the 1984 British miner’s strike and its long term effects on the people of their now post-industrial city, where the soccer team forms a disproportionate role in the city’s identity.
3) A kind of performance role as a contemporary “Sport”. I have spent much of 2012 as a sportswriter (writing extensively for the Guardian, ESPN’s Grantland and recently, the Wall Street Journal). It’s a project that’s similar to my 2001 project where I became artist-in-residence in the 1km government map grid square I lived in at the time, in Manchester England. I am interested in the systems of the art and sport worlds and where their structures are analagous. The figure of the “Sport” is a way to also think about the figure of the “Artist” and the extent to which either creates or inherits their social role.
The book is set for completion in July 2013 and is currently my main focus.
Education:
University of Manchester 1989 – 1992 – BA (hons) First Class
Whitney Museum Independent Study Program 2003-4 (Studio Program)
Whitney Museum Independent Study Program 2004-5 (Architecture and Urbanism Program)
Exhibitions
2012
Deface the Currency, Documentary produced in collaboration with EMPAC
The Sport, multiple venues, New York, London, LA, Seattle, Manchester, Sunderland
Live-writing Performance for Bo Christian Larsson, Ludlow 38, New York
DIS Magazine, Artist’s project
2011
The Confidence Man, (solo show), EMPAC, New York
We are Grammar, Pratt Gallery, New York
Gaming the System, ABC No Rio, New York
The Finishers, Wassaic Project, New York
To Pay Respect to the Generosity of the Three Minute Punk Song, Crate, Margate, UK
Notice of Public Hearing, Sculpture Center, New York
2010
The Flitter, (solo show), Sketch, London
Process Boxes, EMPAC, New York
Hunting Trophies, Parkers Box, New York
How to Read a Book, Locust Projects, Miami
Sitodrepa Paniceum touring book project
Additions, Monster Island, Brooklyn
2009
New Acquisitions, Marian Spore, New York
Fair Use (notes from spam), Artist’s book, Book Works, London
Aqua Miami, Hendershot Gallery
SP Weather Station, Boxed set edition
Architecturally, Hendershot Gallery, New York
New editions Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York
Launch Cornerhouse, Manchester; AyeAye Books, CCA, Glasgow; A Foundation, London
Everything Must Out Going, Asia Song Society, New York; The Apartment, Athens, Greece
ASDF show, Capricious Gallery, New York
2008
You Silently (curated by Marina Warner), Courtauld Institute, London; Essex University Gallery
Fools in Print, Matt’s Gallery, London; Gasworks, London; TART, San Francisco; CCA, Glasgow
Skipping the Page Center for Book Arts, New York (curator)
For a brief time only at a location near you (curated by David Horvitz), multiple locations, New York
2007
Skipping the Page, Center for Book Arts, New York (curator)
Fair Use (notes from spam), published by Bookworks, London
Untitled, newspaper project for Lucy Keany, Glasgow
Narrow Gauge, floating ip, New York
Till I Die, Spencer Brownstone Gallery, New York
Imaginary Arsenals, Cuchifritos Gallery, New York
Chaff, web project for floating ip
2006
Actual Size, solo show, C.Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore
The Square Root of Drawing, Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin
Protections, Kunsthaus Graz, Austria
On Redundancy (event chair), Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York
RxArt Coloring Book, Miami Basel
Media Partnership Commission, EMPAC Center, Troy
AIM 26, Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York
WPAC Auction, Corcoran Gallery, Washington
Residency, Rotunda Gallery, New York
Mind the Gap, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn
CAMEL, LMCC workspace, New York
2005
Do you like stuff? Swiss Institute, New York
The Manchester Pavilion, Istanbul Biennial
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Workspace Program: 120 Broadway, New York
Whitney Museum ISP show, New York
Rub out the word, DUMBO Arts Center, New York
Post Everything, Rotunda Gallery, New York
Red, White, Blue, Spencer Brownstone Gallery, New York
The RxArt Ball, (curator/artist), New York
Parker’s International Art Fair, Parker’s Box, New York
Image Acts, Glass House Gallery, New York
Old Habits Die Hard, Art in General, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
Roberta Beck Memorial Cinema Series, Participant Inc., New York
Sight Unseen, Collaboration with Grace Weir (film commissioned via Breaking Ground), Dublin
2004
Lost in the Telling, Comme Ca, New York
Romantic Detachment, PS1, New York
Old Habits Die Hard , Sparwasser HQ, Berlin; Norwich Art Gallery; Kunstnernes Hu, Oslo; Platform Garanti, Istanbul
Connect the Dots, LeRoy Nieman Gallery, New York
Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool, UK
Whitney Museum ISP show, New York
Frozen Tears II, Maccarone Gallery, New York; Skylight Books, Los Angeles; Jack Hanley Gallery, San Francisco; Cabinet, London
2003
Local Heroes (permanent commissioned artwork) Foundation for Art and Creative Technology, Liverpool
Line and Length (solo commission), Compton Verney, UK
Decomposing Philip Larkin, Poetry Society, London
Forced Entertainment, Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, Frankfurt
We turn in a circle in the night , Comme Ca, New York
FluxSpace, Artists Page for Flux Magazine
A Manchester Portfolio (co-publisher), London Print Studio, The Lowry, Salford
Thermo 03, The Lowry, Salford
The Manchester Pavilion, Venice Biennale
2002
Oncethemostdenselypopulatedplaceonearth, floating ip, Manchester
Selling show, Cornerhouse Manchester
The Charlatans, Commisioned video for Manchester City Art Gallery
Hotel, Camerawork, San Francisco
The Free Biennial, New York
Free Manifesta, Frankfurt
Iluvmann, Edinburgh
Local Area Network, Superchannel, Liverpool (webcast)
Sensurround, British Council touring publishing project
Taxy, Essor project space, London
2001
Group Show at Unilever HQ, London
This Time next Year… Sho1, Manchester
Mapping, Abington Arts Centre, Philadelphia
Pete and Repeat were sitting on a wall, d.u.m.b.o Arts Center, New York
The Manchester Pavilion, project for 49th Venice Biennale
We’re not really here, solo show, Project Arts Centre, Dublin
End Users, solo show, Centre for the Understanding of the Built Environment, Manchester
Ich Bin, 2YK Gallery, Berlin
A Matter of, Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth
Shipwrecked in Seattle, artists page for The Black Diamond Magazine
Nights In, Gasworks, London
Record Collection, VTO Gallery, London; International 3, Manchester
Pandaemonium Festival, Lux Centre, London
SQUARE CITY (SPRINT) performance and video work in grid square 84E 97N
Artist in Residence, HAT Superchannel, Foundation for Art and Creative Technology, Liverpool
ART2001, Business Design Centre, London
2000
Apocalypse Now and Next Week, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester; Outline Gallery, Amsterdam
Christmas Show, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester
wearefriendly, A22 Projects, London (two person show)
You are Here (curator) Metropolitan Galleries, Manchester
Artfair, Royal College of Art, London
ManMoMa International 3, Manchester
Bicurious?, From Space, Salford
Cab Gallery, London/Manchester
Multiple Show, Paul Stolper A22 Projects, Multiple Store, London
Box Project, Museum of Installation, London, Turnpike Gallery, Leigh, Angel Row, Nottingham
SQUARE CITY, Commission from Work & Leisure International, National Lottery, Arts Council Year of the Artist, multiple sites
Ever Get the Feeling you’ve been cheated, Paul Stolper A22 Projects, London
Drawing of Lots, University of Central Lancashire
Bono and Sting Inhabit Lowry’s Living Room, From Space, Manchester
Autoparts commissioned work for new IDEA building
1999
Year end show, Albrecht Durer Kunstverein, Nurnburg
Crash!, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
Bono and Sting ,Turnpike Gallery, Leigh
Bono and Sting Address issues with clay pigeons, All Horizons Club, Liverpool, ICA new media website
Banal Ground , Centre Alte Schule, Berlin
Cappucinopolis (1993-1996) The Annual Programme, Manchester
Radio Strangewaves webcast via Convex TV, Vienna
Death of a Footballer text to speech CD multiple
Bono and Sting present Jim Medway’s Four horsemen Fluxspace, Flux magazine
Bono and Sting’s 24 hour table tennis marathon for Help the Aged , From Space
1998
Bono and Sting present Aeroflot (with Micz Flor and Vera Tolman)
Art Transpennine, The Tate Gallery & Henry Moore Sculpture Trust, Manchester
British Standard, Eastenders, Manchester Albert Square
1997
The Ground Comes Up To Meet Us, Velvet, Manchester
On the buses Street Level Gallery, Glasgow
Mugger Music, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, multiple sites, New York..
Urbanites, City Racing, London
Ideas for Sale, Cornerhouse Gallery, Manchester; Arnofini, Bristol; Up&Co, New York
1996
BANK TV, ICA, London; Transmission, Glasgow; Unfair, Berlin; Live/Life, Lisbon.
Mugger Music, Manchester International Arts, multiple sites, Manchester
Shameful Plug, multiple sites, Manchester
The Ground Which Keeps Our Feet From Getting Wet, Annual Programme, Manchester
Something the Museum Sent Us, artists page, Versus Contemporary Art, Issue 5.*
1995
Cornerhouse – ArtHouse, Hacienda, Manchester. *
Soft Rock, Silesian Museum, Katowice, Poland. *
Ha!, 10a Little Peter Street, Manchester .*
Xmas 1998, Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery.*
1994
Soft Rock, Institute of Contemporary Art, London.*
Diverse City, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester.*
The Alphabet of Dogs, Oliver Machine Works, Manchester.*
Still Rivers, TVOD, Manchester
Train Up a Child in the Way he Should Go, Holden Gallery, Manchester.*
1993
66 – 99 (with 33 between), performance work commissioned by Prema Time Being Festival of Live Art,
Simply The Best, Green Room, Manchester
George Best’s Guide to Computer Literacy, TVOD, Manchester
1992
The Secret Installation of Nicolas Copernicus, Manchester Festival. *
The Secret Diaries of Nicolas Copernicus, performance work, national tour.*
Most work made from 1992 – 1995 was as a member of the artist’s collective Index and is indicated by an asterisk(*) .
Awards
Commissioned and funded by several bodies including NWAB, ACE, National Lottery, Henry Moore Institute, Tate Gallery Liverpool, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, EMPAC
2011 EMPAC Artist-in-residence
2011 VLA Art and Law resident
2009 Center for Book Arts, Selected curator from Open Submission
2006 Bronx Museum AIM program
2006 LMCC Swingspace artist residency
2005-2006 Artist in Residence, Rotunda Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
2005 Artist in Residence at LMCC Workspace and visiting artist at School of Visual Arts, New York
2003-2005 Whitney Museum of American Art ISP (repeat invitee)
2001 Arts Council selected artist-in-residence – Year of the Artist
Selected Publications
Compilation of Translations: One Year at Ludlow 38 (Steinberg Press)
Performance/Catalog essay for Bo Christian Larsson
Vlatka Horvat, 2011
Catalogue essay for monograph
Sitodrepa Paniceum
Worldwide touring book project, 2010
Fair Use
Artist’s Monograph, Bookworks, London, 2009 (revised 2010)
Skipping the Page
Catalog published by Center for Book Arts, New York (curator; essay) 2008
RxArt Coloring book
2007
Sight Unseen
Graham Parker/Grace Weir DVD Catalog, Breaking Ground, 2005
Click here to be removed
Catalogue essay for Leo Fitzmaurice, First Site Gallery, 2005
Waygood Artfayre
Introductory essay for catalogue, 2005
Toby Paterson
Catalogue essay for Tate Gallery, 2005
Frozen Tears II
Text for book edited by John Russell, 2004
Niamh O’Malley
Catalogue essay for PS1 International Artists in Residence show catalogue, 2004
Michael Marshall
Catalogue Essay for Tate Gallery, 2004
The Man who writes the catalogue essay
Catalogue essay for Paul Rooney, Vardy Gallery, 2003
Commissions
FACT booklet commemorating building launch, 2003
Footnotes
Catalogue essay for Tim Brennan, 2002
Ryan Gander
essay for artists monograph, 2002
Alexia Walther
essay for artists monograph, Galerie Sima, Nurnburg, 2002
Superchannel
catalogue essay for Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (FACT) 2001
VANE
catalogue essay for Visual Arts North East festival – 2001
The Annual Programme
Group catalogue, 2001
Bono and Sting – Graham Parker/David Mackintosh Turnpike Gallery
catalogue ISBN 0 95294702 x, 2000
Leaving Tracks – Artranspennine 98
catalogue ISBN1902854 012, 1998
Reviewer for Time Out New York, Art Monthly (UK), Circa (Ireland), CVA (UK), Artillery (US), Springerin (Austria), Live Art Magazine (UK), NTQ (UK) 1996 – present; Currently writing for The Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Grantland (ESPN) [weekly column], Howler Magazine
Selected Press
Art Review, Feature on Marian Spore collection, April 2010
Artforum, review of Fair Use (notes from spam), October 2009
ArtWorld Magazine, Take Five feature on Fair Use (notes from spam), June/July 2009
The Nation, Q and A, June 2009
Time Out New York, 550, Mind the Gap, Smack Mellon, April 13-19 2006
New York Times, AIM Bronx Museum, Ben Genocchio, April 9 2006
The Baltimore Sun, Making Art of the con, the scam and the spam, Glenn McNatt, February 12 2006
The Irish Times, Groundwork for a new image, Aidan Dunne, December 8 2005
Art Monthly, Do you like stuff?, Adam Mendelsohn, October 2005
The New Yorker, Do You Like Stuff?, October 24th 2005
New York Times, Do you Like stuff?, Ken Johnson, October 14 2005
Brooklyn Rail, Post-Everything, October 2005
Time Out New York, 523, 524 Rotunda Gallery, Post-Everything, October 2005
Aperto Manchester, Flash Art, October 2003
Manchester Portfolio, Guardian review, July 2003
Manchester Pavilion, Financial times June 2003
Manchester Pavilion, Wallpaper Magazine, June 2003
We’re not really Here – Art Monthly review by Martin Vincent, Autumn 2001
Dazed and Confused – Bono and Sting June 2001
Guardian – Manchester Rising January 2001
Art Review – Life is Good in Manchester Cover story December 2000
Guardian – You are Here October 2000
Guardian – Lowry’s Living room May 2000
Guardian – Bono and Sting October 1999
Blueprint Magazine July/August 1998
The Art Newspaper July/August 1998
Wall Street Journal – London July 1998
Mugger Music New York – Sculpture magazine Heidi Reitmaier March 1998
Urban myths: Glasgow and Manchester artists article by Rebecca Gordon-Nesbitt in Contemporary visual arts, issue 17 Spring 1998
On the Buses Photo essay in Artists Newsletter, January 1998
Time Out New York June 1997
Mugger Music article by Ian Rawlinson in InterElia Magazine, Winter 1996
Ha! reviewed by Robert Clark, in Untitled Magazine, Spring 1996; reviewed by Libby Anson in Contemporary Art Magazine, Spring 1996
Xmas 1998 reviewed by Robert Clark, in The Guardian, June 1995
Train Up a Child in the Way he Should Go & Alphabet of Dogs reviewed by Tim Etchells in Frieze Magazine, Issue 20, Jan/Feb 1995
Teaching Work
Visiting lecturer at :-
Mentor for Arts Practicum (2012); RPI visiting lecturer/artist (2011) – guest critic for PhD/Masters candidates; Cornell University (2010/11); CUNY Graduate program, New York 2007; LMCC workspace program (2006) , School of Visual Arts New York (2005), TATE Gallery University MA network (course co-leader 2001-2003), Manchester Metropolitan University, Salford University, University of Central Lancashire (1999); Manchester Metropolitan University (1996 to 1999); Lancaster University(1995-1996); talks and presentations to Tate Gallery, Liverpool; Whitney Museum contemporaries, New York
Other Activities
Writer for The Guardian, Grantland/ESPN (weekly column), Wall Street Journal, Howler Magazine, 2012 – present
Co-Director of Floating IP, Manchester/New York 2002 – present
Major private collection manager, New York 2007-2009
Member of collaborative group CAMEL, New York 2005 – 2006
Reviewer for Time Out New York, Modern Painters, artinfo.com, Art Monthly, CVA, Springerin (Vienna), Live Art Magazine, NTQ 1996 – present
Board Member, Grizedale Arts 2003-2005
Archivist, Acconci Studios, 2003-2004
Visual Arts Officer, University of Salford 2000-2003
Conference programmer International Symposium Electronic Art, Manchester, 1996 – 98
Member of International Programming Committee for 8th International Symposium on Electronic Art, School of the Art Institute of Chicago 1997
Co-editor of Revolting temporary media lab publication 1998
Live arts Assessor for Arts Council of England 1995 -1997
Member of Index Co-operative, 1992 – 1995
Established The Loading Deck, performance and visual arts workspace, 1993
Links
http://www.vimeo.com/grahamparker
http://empac.rpi.edu/events/2011/spring/confidence-man
http://www.grantland.com/search/_/query/graham-parker
http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/graham-parker