Mike Kelly
Mike (b. 1966) lives and works in Rossendale, just north of Manchester. His work frequently begins with exploration of place - often his local moorland, sometimes further afield - and what impact the pace of change has on meaning. The north of England was the crucible for the industrial revolution and, later, the computer age. Waves of technology broke across a landscape that endured and, with time, set about steadily erasing its scars, the grand schemes of previous generations rendered meaningless.
Whilst these imposed, human systems fade, Mike’s work recognises that certain places, certain objects, seem to reflect another kind of logic, one that is perhaps operating on a different timescale and register to our own.
His use of printing and construction techniques results in work that often resists obvious reading, disrupting the initial encounter and asking the viewer to reconsider what is seen and what can be understood, making meaning and perception its subject.
Image credit: Paul Rideout
Upcoming Exhibitions
Threshold
Manchester School of Art Commission, Lowry Building
Now to June 2027
British Art Fair
Pension Bee Selected Artist
24th - 27th September 2026
After Hours - Manchester School of Art Postgraduate Show 2026
MMU School of Digital Arts
29th September - 4th October 2026
Rise Up! ~ Lock Down!
Lancaster Castle
5th - 16th October 2026
The Manchester Contemporary
Manchester Central
With Bury Art Museum
19th - 22nd November 2026
Wushanming Art Museum
China
20th November 2026 - January 10th 2027
Awards & Commissions
British Art Fair x Pension Bee - Selected Artist (2026)
Manchester School of Art Commission — Threshold (2026)
Cass Art Exhibition Award — Bury Art Museum OPEN (2025)
Bury Art Museum OPEN — 3 works selected (2025)
Selected Previous Exhibitions
(re)collection - SAAN1, Manchester (2026)
Threshold — Installation at Grane Mill, Rossendale (2026)
Threshold — Solo Exhibition, Cass Art Space, Manchester (2026)
Darkness Symposium, School of Digital Arts, Manchester (2026)
Swanfall: Fables — Mall Galleries, London (2025)
Unconformities — Viewpoints Festival, Manchester (2025)
Keep Pushing — Circle Square Installation, Manchester (2025)
Prosperity Through Endeavour, Rossendale (2025)
Remix // — Manchester Photographic Gallery (2012)
Projects & Collaborations
Gunpowder Tea (with Shadab Zeest Hashmi & MMU MA students). Screened at:
* IAAC Poetry Film Festival, New York (2025)
* South Asian Poetry Film Festival, Chicago (2025)
* Imperial War Museum North, Manchester (2024)
SODA x Montag Residency Showcase, Istanbul (2025)
Lagos Street Scene (Fela! Production) — Broadway & The National Theatre (2010)
Willie Nelson portrait (with painter Malcolm Bucknall) — W Hotel, Austin (2010)
