about

Abstract painting is ridiculous, narcissistic gibberish, brimming with anthropomorphisms (mother, vampire, Jesus), pareidolia (genitalia, portals, triangles), & art historical precedents - never actually abstract.

For Poyner, though, it offers a unique starting point, an open plane of spatial thought in which to improvise, fail, uncover some human thing, even if that thing turns out double-sided, or a simple folded plane, or on a plinth as a sculpture, or a video of the oily, black paint stirrer hung on the wall.

His works span sculptures of broken reconfigured paintings, to oil-painted drawings & collages, to wall-based assemblages & videos, to painting-painting (whatever that is).

Whilst graduating the MA Fine Art programme at Chelsea in 2003, Poyner featured in the juried EAST International & Bloomberg New Contemporaries shows, presenting, in the wake of the sudden death of his father, his Bad Paintings – accumulated abstract works wrenched apart & reworked into punk-Constructivist sculpture.

Poyner then swerved into the collaborative world of film, music videos & advertising, earning a living as a producer, shooting internationally for years. Continuing his artistic practice in parallel, this split allowed new bodies of work to emerge quietly without commercial pressures.

The two most recent series are double-sided drawings (wonky half-Rorschachs pulled from oil & turpentine-infused books, repeatedly reworked & collaged to create new spaces & imagery); & a set of collaborative works with a literary novelist.

Poyner was prize-winner for his installation at the last Claremorris Open in Ireland, and has recently completed work on a 2022 solo show of sculpture, developed out of a collaboration with the writer David Annand around his debut novel, Peterdown.

Born in Birmingham, UK, Poyner lives & works in London.

selected exhibitions

2022 - Peterdown @ Changing Room Gallery, London (collaboration with novelist David Annand)

2017 - Claremorris Open, County Mayo, Ireland (adjudicator: Tom Morton) (prizewinner)

2013 - Plus Jamais Seul @ Standards Expositions, Rennes, France (curators: Maëla Bescond, Corentin Canesson, Damien Le Dévédec, Julien Monnerie & Carl Phelipot) (ad)

2004 - Zoo Art Fair c/o Flaca Gallery (curator: Tom Humphreys) @ London Zoo (wiki)

2004 - Sculpture Garden public intervention project, c/o Flaca Gallery, Old Street, London (curators: Tom Humphreys & Jacob Dahl Jürgensen)

2003 - Private Property @ Basement Flat Gallery, London (curator: Paul Corcoran)

2003 - Bloomberg New Contemporaries @ Victoria Miro, London & Cornerhouse, Manchester (selectors: JJ Charlesworth, Cerith Wyn Evans, Hayley Newman & Rebecca Warren) (view)

2003 - Slimvolume 2003 (curator: Andrew Hunt - featured editioned work subsequently acquired by collections including Victoria & Albert Museum, London; The British Museum, London; Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh; Tate Gallery Library, London & The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester) (link)

2003 - EASTinternational (selectors: Toby Webster & Eva Rothschild / curators: Lynda Morris, Michelle Cotton & Andrew Hunt) (wiki)

2003 - Priceless @ Oval Productions, Manchester

2003 - RSVP @ Robert Sandelson, London (curators: Tom Morton & Catharine Patha)

2001 - Martin Poyner @ Newcastle Playhouse

2000 - Argy Bargy & Versus c/o VANE @ various venues Lime Street, Newcastle upon Tyne

awards

2023 - BBA Artist Prize, Berlin (longlist)

2017 - Claremorris Open, County Mayo, Ireland (adjudicator: Tom Morton) (prizewinner)

2003 - Bloomberg New Contemporaries @ Victoria Miro, London & Cornerhouse, Manchester (selectors: JJ Charlesworth, Cerith Wyn Evans, Hayley Newman & Rebecca Warren) (view)

2003 - EASTinternational (selectors: Toby Webster & Eva Rothschild / curators: Lynda Morris, Michelle Cotton & Andrew Hunt) (wiki)

education

2003 - MA Fine Art, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, UK (now Chelsea College of Arts, University of the Arts London)

2000 - BA Fine Art, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK

publications

2017 - Claremorris Open 2017 catalogue


2003 - Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2003 catalogue by JJ Charlesworth, Cerith Wyn Evans, Hayley Newman & Rebecca Warren

2003 - Slimvolume Poster Publication by Andrew Hunt

2003 - EASTinternational 2003 catalogue by Toby Webster, Eva Rothschild, Lynda Morris, Andrew Hunt & Michelle Cotton

2003 - Time Out London, October 1-8 2003, Bloomberg New Contemporaries by Martin Coomer

2003 - Art Monthly UK, issue 269, September 2003, EAST International by Dan Smith & Bloomberg New Contemporaries by Martin Vincent

2003 - Arena Magazine, August 2003, Martin Poyner: Ruining It For Everyone, by Tom Morton