Michael Joseph England (b.1967)


Chelsea school of Art,
Foundation,                           1986-1987

St Martins school of Art,
B.A. Fine Art,                        1987-1990
    
Cyprus college of Art,   
Postgraduate in Fine Art,             1996-1997

After leaving St Martins, I went to New York for two weeks and ended up staying for a year(92-93).
I worked as a freelance photo assistant which was great as it took me to places I may not have seen otherwise, Las Vegas, The Grand Canyon (on the back of a mule), the Catskill mountains, S.Carolina and many other states and locations. especially a lot of locations in and around Manhattan. When i wasn't assisting i would spend my time painting, life drawing at the Arts league club on 56th st and taking photographs.
Manhattan was still a little rough around the edges(pre-Giuliani), especially the lower east side.
New York was a fantastic experience... 

I have always tried to do as much life drawing as possible since art school, It is important to keep drawing. It teaches hand and eye coordination and it's also an important discipline to really look at what you see.i It is an important and essential ingredient that helps towards understanding visual language.

I have been fortunate enough to have travelled a bit, seen and spent time in some beautiful and inspiring places. I always take a sketchbook with me (out of habit). It all ends up being used in paintings at some point, consciously or unconsciously.

I lived in Cyprus(96-97) for eleven months, in a goat shed with the sea in front and mountains behind.
It was pretty isolated in the sense that there wasn't much going on except for the sun coming up and going down and the sound of waves lapping the beach or crashing on rocks. It was in Cyprus with this slow pace of life and stress-less environment that my paintings moved away from figurative to abstract.

I've had 3 solo shows in Tokyo, joint exhibitions in Switzerland, Cyprus, London and New York and have participated in art festivals in Italy and France.

I lived and painted in India for 3 months (1999).

I lived and painted in the mountains in a remote part of Spain for 3 months (2001).

One of my favorite studios was in Shoreditch(1999-2004).
Where I lived and worked above a 24hr mini cab office(which at times was very colourful and lively).
Looking back on it, it was a great time to be living and painting in that area.
Hoxton square was still run down, the white cube wasn't built and Banksy wasn't a household name. The Barley Mo still had lock-ins, the Griffin and the Red lion were still old men pubs.
What I do remember was that there was a real sense of something happening, a creative community with loads of Art Private views, parties and happenings. There were a lot of like minded, skint, ex art school types and people doing there own thing(painting, sculpting, music, poetry, making clothes, making furniture.....). Living in this area at this time you somehow  knew you were part of something that was unique and in transition and that it wouldn't last, but while it did it was great fun. looking back, i feel lucky and privileged to have been witness to it.

In 2004 I left London in an old diesel van with the wheel arches almost touching the wheels, loaded down with paintings, books, mattress etc and drove down to Andalusia, Spain to live, to fix up an old Spanish house to use as a studio.

Apart becoming a dad in 2005, i am still trying to master the art of living hand to mouth, and trying to make good paintings. i feel like i am living like an eternal student, keeps me on my toes.....

AT present i am based in London, making paintings.