Michael Armitage (born 1984) is a British artist who was born in Kenya.
In May 2022 the
Royal Mint
The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins.
Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by His Majesty's Treasury and is under an exclus ...
announced that he is designing a new
£1 coin
The British one pound (£1) coin is a denomination of Coins of the United Kingdom, sterling coinage. Its obverse bears the Latin engraving ELIZABETH II D G REG () F D () meaning, 'Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, Queen, Defender of the Faith ...
for the United Kingdom which will be issued in 2023.
Early life and education
Armitage is the son of a English father from Yorkshire and a Kenyan mother of
Kikuyu Kikuyu or Gikuyu (Gĩkũyũ) mostly refers to an ethnic group in Kenya or its associated language.
It may also refer to:
* Kikuyu people, a majority ethnic group in Kenya
*Kikuyu language, the language of Kikuyu people
*Kikuyu, Kenya, a town in Cent ...
ancestry.
In 2007, he received a BA degree from the
Slade School of Fine Art
The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...
, London. He earned a Postgraduate Diploma from the
Royal Academy Schools, London in 2010.
Exhibitions
In 2019 he had a solo show of his work at the
Museum of Contemporary Art Museum of Contemporary Art (often abbreviated to MCA, MoCA or MOCA) may refer to:
Africa
* Museum of Contemporary Art (Tangier), Morocco, officially le Galerie d'Art Contemporain Mohamed Drissi
Asia East Asia
* Museum of Contemporary Art Shangha ...
in Sydney, Australia.
In 2019 his work was included in the
58th Venice Biennale
The 58th Venice Biennale was an international contemporary art exhibition held between May and November 2019. The Venice Biennale takes place biennially in Venice, Italy. Artistic director Ralph Rugoff curated its central exhibition, ''May You ...
.
Armitage has a solo show of his work in 2020 at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
The same year, he exhibited 70 of his paintings in a solo show at Munich's
Haus der Kunst
The ''Haus der Kunst'' (, ''House of Art'') is a non-collecting modern and contemporary art museum in Munich, Germany. It is located at Prinzregentenstraße 1 at the southern edge of the Englischer Garten, Munich's largest park.
History
Na ...
.
Honours and awards
In January 2022, he was elected a
Royal Academician
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...
by the
Royal Academy of Arts
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...
.
[Art Gallery of New South Wales
The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...]