Originally from Corner Brook, Mike Gough graduated from Grenfell College in 2007 with a BFA in Visual Arts. He completed his Masters in 2010 from Central Saint Martins and was a part of four group exhibitions at the Witham Gallery and Empire Gallery, among others in London, England.
In total, his work has been shown as part of more than 35 solo and group exhibitions, the most recent of which was 30 + 1 at the Christina Parker Gallery, where he has an upcoming solo exhibition soon. Also still on the horizon is a group show called Architec Tonic coming up at the 2 Rooms Contemporary Art Gallery in Duntara,NL. Michael’s work is included in many public, private and corporate collections. He’s been shortlisted for the EVA Emerging Artist of the Year in 2012 and the ArtsNL 2012 CBC Emerging Artist Award. In 2015, Gough won EVA’s inaugural People’s Choice Award.
Gough has been continually developing his potent contemporary aesthetic and his skills as a professional visual artist. He uses primal, visceral, and intuitive mark making combined with intimate thoughtful lines to explore ways of recording, responding and remembering.
For the 31st ArtsNL Arts Awards, he’s created a brand new series called AT NIGHT, a collection of nocturnal paintings designed to explore relationship between land, sky, and water – inspired by the idea that islanders always feel the ‘pull of the island’ while away. Each piece in the series is 20” x 20” on cradled birch panel done in acrylic,
pastel, and graphite with gold leaf accents.
In creating the series, Gough investigated people’s identity and where we place ourselves in landscape as we continue to grow among things that remain constant.