El Morgan
I am an artist and writer working with video, sculpture, printmaking and drawing to explore our entanglement with other species. This has included serenading a spider, making a diamond from the dead creatures of the River Thames and embracing a giant green sea anemone. My illustrated book Gossamer Days: Spiders, Humans and Their Threads (Strange Attractor/MIT press, 2016) examines the history of the human uses of spider silk, from gun sights to sticky tunics via acoustic lures and royal underwear. It was chosen by The Guardian as one of their favourite books of the year.
I have received funding from Arts Council England, the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese foundation, the Leverhulme Trust, the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Selected exhibitions and performances include le Mostra della Laguna, Sale Docks, Venice (2021), 100 ways to say we, Goethe Institut’s programme for the Venice Architecture Biennale (2021), Print Dept.Division of Labour (2017), Jerwood Drawing prize (2016), Glass Delusions, Grant Museum of Zoology (2015) and A labour of Moles, DOCUMENTA 13 (2012). I also co-curated the large interdisciplinary exhibition, Life of Clay at the RIBA London, which was selected by The Guardian as one of the top exhibitions of 2017.
In addition to my individual practice, I often work with other artists, museum curators, scientists and engineers to create site-specific works. I am also a member of the collaborative print group, Printers’ Symphony. We can be found walking across England with our portable print studios (converted army bags) on our backs, printing up a tree, by the beach, and rubbing the Bank of England.
I was awarded my PhD in 2013 from the Slade School of Art and I am currently senior lecturer in Fine Art at Loughborough University.
I have received funding from Arts Council England, the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese foundation, the Leverhulme Trust, the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Selected exhibitions and performances include le Mostra della Laguna, Sale Docks, Venice (2021), 100 ways to say we, Goethe Institut’s programme for the Venice Architecture Biennale (2021), Print Dept.Division of Labour (2017), Jerwood Drawing prize (2016), Glass Delusions, Grant Museum of Zoology (2015) and A labour of Moles, DOCUMENTA 13 (2012). I also co-curated the large interdisciplinary exhibition, Life of Clay at the RIBA London, which was selected by The Guardian as one of the top exhibitions of 2017.
In addition to my individual practice, I often work with other artists, museum curators, scientists and engineers to create site-specific works. I am also a member of the collaborative print group, Printers’ Symphony. We can be found walking across England with our portable print studios (converted army bags) on our backs, printing up a tree, by the beach, and rubbing the Bank of England.
I was awarded my PhD in 2013 from the Slade School of Art and I am currently senior lecturer in Fine Art at Loughborough University.