Michael Anthony
Born in 1978, Mesa, Arizona USA Currently living and working between Denver, Colorado and South Korea.
Michael Anthony Simon is known for his sculpture work with spiders and spiderwebs. In 2009 he moved from Chicago to Korea. While living in the countryside there he took an interest in the relationship between nature, artists and the materials they use. He began by painting leaves in the forest and photographing the result. Simon then began catching spiders, until he settled on the work of the golden silk orb-weaver, allowing them to weave webs between acrylic rods set vertically into triangular pedestals. Overnight the spiders created webs which Simon spray painted. Before he began working with nature he focused his art on angles, texture and lighting to show the viewers how their relative position and time influences perception. In 2016 Simon was diagnosed with Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy, a condition caused by a rare gene mutation, which causes blindness. As a result, he left Korea and moved to Denver, Colorado and continued his work with spiders. He has since worked without color, painting polar bears in blizzards. In 2017 he had a gallery exhibit at Apex Art in SoHo.
EDUCATION
2005-2007 The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), Chicago, IL Bachelor of Fine Arts
2005 Summer Study Abroad, Akademie of Fine Arts, Prague, Czech Republic
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 “Aftermath”, Galería Leyendecker, Tenerife, Islas Canarias, Spain
2016 “For A While Just Not Forever”, Scholz & Jung Gallery, Gwangju, South Korea
2015 “Make Out Sessions”, Salt Gallery, Gwangju, South Korea
“Aftermarth”, Scholz & Jung Gallery, Gwangju, South Korea
2014 “Keep in Touch”, Gung Gallery, Gwangju, South Korea
“ThisnThat”, Dosi Gallery, Busan, South Korea
“FAUX/REAL”, Scholz & Jung Gallery, Gwangju, South Korea
2013 “Loud Whispers”, UNC Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
“Excavate”, Scholz & Jung Gallery, Gwangju, South Korea
2012 “Multi-Tasking-ing-ing”, Scholz & Jung Gallery, Gwangju, South Korea
2007 “Indirection”, Contemporary Art Workshop, Chicago, IL
2006 “Point of Interest ^5”, Contemporary Art Center, North Adams, MA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 ARCO Madrid 2023, Madrid, Spain
2017 “Animal Intent”, APEX ART, New York, USA
2016 Changwon Sculpture Biennale, Changwon, South Korea
2015 HONG KONG ART FAIR, Salt Gallery, Hong Kong
2014 “Storytelling: The Contemporary Native Art Biennale” Art Mur Gallery, Montreal, Canadá “Storytelling” (selected works from the Biennale), Ottawa School of Art, Ottawa, Canadá
KIAF ART FAIR, Dosi Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
Gwangju International Media Art Festival, Gwangju, South Korea
BUSAN ART FAIR, Dosi Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
2013 “Gwangju Media Art Festival”, Gwangju, South Korea
“Garden of Confessions”, Gwangju Biennale Hall, Gwangju, South Korea
“SW.E:6”, UNC Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
2012 “Beyond Borders”, Jeonju City Hall, Jeonju, South Korea
2011 “Creation from the Fingertips”, Gwangju Biennal Hall, Gwangju, South Korea
“Art and Ecology”, Muan Seungwoo Oh Museum of Art, Muan, South Korea
“Drawing Party: Tell Me More”, Metro Gallery, Gwangju, South Korea
2010 “Digital Body Desire”, Lotte Gallery, Gwangju/Anyang, South Korea
“The Border Between Reality and Metaphor”, Chosun Museum Art Gallery, Gwangju, South Korea
“Media Monsters”, Chosun Museum Art Gallery, Gwangju, South Korea
“Kim Whan Ki International Art Festival”, Mokpo Art Center, Mokpo, South Korea
“Freedom and Experiment”, Jari Gallery, Gwangju, South Korea
2009 “The Private Collection of Easton Miller: Selected Works”, Heaven Gallery, Chicago, IL
“River, River, Water, Original, Return”, 5-18 Memorial Gallery, Gwangju, South Korea
“Anti-International”, Gwangju Biennale Hall, Gwangju, South Korea
“Shamanism”, Gwangju Museum of Art Geumnamro, Gwangju, South Korea
“Ecology”, Lotte Gallery, Gwangju, South Korea
2008 “Pictures of Nothing”, Lloyd Dobler Gallery, Chicago, IL
“For Every Occasion”, Thrones Gallery, Chicago, IL
2007 “Open & Closed”, Contemporary Art Workshop, Chicago, IL
BFA Show, G2 Gallery, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
2005 Contemporary Art Center, Peoria, IL
Base Space, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Akademie of Fine Arts, Prague, Czech Republic