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Mick McGraw

Using printmaking, photography, sculpture and artist bookworks, McGraws practice investigates issues related to land use, focussing on our industrial/social integration with land/space. This investigation is linked to an extensive analysis of social, political and historical findings allied, and at times, in opposition to, technological acceleration and advancement.

His work is frequently related to his involvement with the natural landscape, often as result of interaction with a particular place, space or site. My most recent works have taken on an edge of true simplicity, almost cathartic in their conception whereby we are encouraged to explore and reflect upon some very elementary acts of involvement, such as the series of “proposed” works and “viewing platforms”. These works include very simply designed structures and enclosures which are intended to take the “viewer” on an experiential journey designated to heighten their perception of place/space, irrespective of their familiarity with it.

Recent works include the artist book Lilia which investigates the history of Roman warfare (linked to Paul Virilio’s “dromology” writings) which documents the only known site of a Roman lilia in Scotland, a series of defensive pits which contained sharpened stakes, designed to impale intruders attacking the Antonine Wall and Bang bang, you’re dead, an artist book documenting media coverage of brutal drone attacks on military targets, captured from mainstream media outlets.

Other recent works include a series of printed works based on the architecture of the refugee camps, Azraq, Kutapulong and Zaatari. The shapes of emergency shelters have been incorporated into these low relief printed works. The installation (dis)place(d) depicts a series of small scale printed models taken form the UNHCR buildings deployed in Azraq camp, Jordan.

Jigsaw is a new work which depicts a scene of generic devastation caused through warfare. Rather than the popular depictions of famous landmarks, such as Dutch canal scenes or famous castles, Jigsaw is intended to frustrate and reconsider the current political situation in the world today. It would appear almost impossible to complete this jigsaw, every piece depicting the devastation in piles of rubble and bombed concrete.

 

Contact Information

email: [email protected]
Web: mickmcgraw.com
instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mick.mcgraw/

Professional Practice & Experience

Employment

2015–present Programme Leader, Masters of Letters in Fine Art Practice, School of Fine Art, Glasgow School of Art
2013–2015 UG Programme Leader for Fine Art (Acting), School of Fine Art, Glasgow School of Art
2001–2013 Lecturer in Charge of Printmaking, School of Fine Art, Glasgow School of Art

Education

1993 State University of New York Purchase, USA
1992–1993 Glasgow School of Art
1988–1992 Glasgow School of Art

Selected Travel / Research

2011 Rennes, Brittany, France
2013 Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Richmond (Virginia), USA; Shanghai, China
2014 Antwerp, Belgium; Tilburg, Holland
2016 Leipzig, Germany; Shenyang, China
2018 Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, China

Selected Exhibitions

2012 PRINTS TOKYO, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Japan (Group Exhibition)
2012 Sense of Place in Artist Books, University of Minnesota, USA (Group Exhibition)
2012 Close to Home: Artists Reconsider the Local, East Street Arts, Leeds, UK (Group Exhibition)
2013 Learning to Draw, Drawing to Learn, Fleming Collection, London, UK (Group Exhibition)
2013 40 Year Anniversary Exhibition, Trongate 103, Glasgow Print Studio, Glasgow, UK
2014 School Residents, Frans Masereel Centre, Kasterlee, Belgium (Group Exhibition)
2015 Cancellation Proof, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, UK (Friday Event)
2016 I Want to Hide It, Plymouth University, England (Group Exhibition & Conference Paper)
2016 Serpentina, V&A National Art Library, London, UK (Group Exhibition / Permanent Collection)
2016 The People’s Money, Royal Bank of Scotland, UK (Design Team for New Scottish Banknotes)
2017 Print Print Print, Reid Gallery, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, UK (Group Print Exhibition)
2018 (dis)place(d), Barony Centre, West Kilbride, UK (Solo Exhibition)
2018 International Academic Printmaking Alliance, Taoxichuan Art Museum, Jingdezhen, China (International Group Exhibition)
2019 International Academic Printmaking Alliance, Hua’ian Art Museum, Hua’ian, China (International Group Exhibition)
2019 East and West Walk Forwards, Luxun Academy of Fine Art, Shenyang, China (Group Exhibition)
2023 The Mountains are Calling, Bower Ashton Library, UWE, Bristol, UK (Group Exhibition)
2024 Artist Book Exhibition, Bower Ashton Library, UWE, Bristol, UK (Solo Exhibition)
2025 Practicing Landscape: Field Notes, Annexe Gallery, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, UK (Group Exhibition)
2025 Scottish Landscape Awards, Kirkcudbright Galleries, Scotland, UK (Group Exhibition)

Selected Publications / Artists Books

2001 Three Fifths Fluid, Center for Editions
2001 60 Second Interlude, Market Gallery / Michael McGraw
2005 Silva, Center for Editions
2006 Cast Paper Wall, Center for Editions
2006 Serpentina, Center for Editions
2024 Lilia, Center for Editions
2024 Bang, Bang, You’re Dead, Center for Editions

Awards

2025 First Prize, LAPECA Scottish Landscape Awards, Kirkcudbright Galleries, Dumfries and Galloway (£10,000 donated by the Howell Family)

Work in Collections

  • Granary Books, New York, USA
  • Insight Press, New York, USA
  • Art Metropole, Toronto, Canada
  • Grahame Galleries and Editions, Brisbane, Australia
  • DA2 Digital Arts Development Agency, Bristol, England
  • Tate Gallery, London, England
  • Manchester Metropolitan Library, England
  • Centre for Fine Print Research, Book Arts, UWE, Bristol, England
  • Winchester School of Art, England
  • University of Plymouth, England
  • Visual Research Centre, DCA, Dundee, Scotland
  • Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England

Residencies

2000 Artist in Residence, Centre for Fine Print Research, UWE Bristol in conjunction with DA2 Digital Arts Development Agency, July–August

2012, 2013, 2014 School Residencies, Frans Masereel Centrum, Kasterlee, Belgium (March each year)

Selected Publications / Articles

  • ‘60 Second Interlude’, Artist Newsletter, August 2000
  • ‘The Book Society’, St. Magnus Festival, Exhibition Catalogue, 2000
  • DA2 Digital Arts Development Agency, da2.org.uk, 2000
  • ‘Survey of Photomechanical Prints’, Essay & Exhibition Catalogue, 2000
  • Printmakers Council, ‘The Relationship Between the Digital Image and Traditional Forms of Print’, 2001
  • ‘60 Second Interlude’, Exhibition Review, The List, Issue 409, March 2001
  • ‘60 Second Interlude’, Exhibition Review, The List, Issue 410, March/April 2001
  • ‘60 Second Interlude’, Exhibition Review, The Big Issue, Issue 319, April 2001
  • ‘60 Second Interlude’, Exhibition Review, The Guardian, 10 April 2001
  • Artists Books, Edinburgh Printmakers, Exhibition Review, Scotland on Sunday, 1 July 2001
  • Electronic Printmaking, Green & Black Publications, George Whale & Naren Barfield, 2001
  • LAND2: Beyond Landscape?, Dean Clough, Halifax, Exhibition Catalogue, 2004
  • ARCADIA ID EST: Artists’ Books, Nature and The Landscape, UWE Bristol, Exhibition Catalogue, 2005
  • Inkubator II, The Scotsman
  • Place, Identity and Memory, Gracefield Arts Centre, Dumfries, Exhibition Catalogue, 2009
  • All Over the Place, Stanley and Aubrey Burton Gallery Leeds, The Culture Vulture, 27 June 2010
  • Cabin:Codex, Centrespace, DCA, Exhibition Review, The Times, 24 May 2011
  • Post-Digital Printmaking: CNC, Traditional and Hybrid Techniques, Paul Catanese & Angela Geary, 2012
  • Scottish Arts Trust: Scottish Landscape Awards 2025, Exhibition Catalogue, Claire Rocha & Sara Cameron McBean, 2025