Michael Joaquin Grey
Encyclopedia
Michael Joaquin Grey is an American artist
, inventor, educator, and toy designer based in New York City
.
Grey holds a Bachelor of Arts
degree in Art
and a BS
in Genetics
from the University of California, Berkeley
, 1984 and a MFA
in Sculpture
from Yale University
, 1990. He is the inventor of ZOOB, an award-winning toy modeling system. His artwork, based around his understanding of genetics, language
, and the origins of form, is shown internationally.
In June 2009 a solo exhibition of Grey's work went on display at the PS1 Contemporary Art Center of MOMA curated by Director, Klaus Bisenbach, held in conjunction with the 2009 Young Architects Program by MOS.
For the past twenty years, Michael Joaquin Grey has been creating work that extends and plays with the boundaries of art, science and media. Critical moments in natural phenomenon and culture are objects in his work, as are the prepositional states of change between matter, energy, behavior, and meaning. Grey's creative dialogue engages epistemological and pedagogical
creative limitations of the tools and processes we use to observe, learn and play with our world. An early theorization of this was published by the artist in the essay "Jelly Lovers: Dreams of Causality" Art Journal
55:1. The trajectory and cosmology of Grey's work from his sculptural practice to his creation of the ZOOB was chronicled by art historian Edward Shanken
Grey's work has been recognized in publications internationally including Artforum
, Flash Art, The New York Times
, The New Yorker
, Leonardo, Artbyte, ID Magazine, Washington Post
, Los Angeles Times
, The San Francisco Chronicle
, Village Voice
, London Telegraph
, Wired
, Zing Magazine
, Art & Auction
, and The Wall Street Journal
.
In the past Grey has exhibited at bitforms gallery
, New York and Seoul; the Museum of Modern Art
, New York; Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art; Whitney Museum of American Art
; The New Museum of Contemporary Art
, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami
; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego
; Milwaukee Art Museum
; Philbrook Museum of Art
, Tulsa; Tel Aviv Museum of Art
; Nordic Art Center, Helsinki; Norrtalje Konsthall, Sweden; Kunsthalle Loppem, Belgium; Kunstverein Hannover; Serpentine Gallery
, London; Brooke Alexander Editions, New York; Lisson Gallery
, London; Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York, and Stuart Regen Gallery, Los Angeles.
2003 Adobe Public Art Competition Finalist
1999 ID Magazine, ZOOB,Design Distinction
1998 The American Toy Institute Award, ZOOB, Early Childhood News, ZOOB, Director's Choice, National Parenting Center, ZOOB, Seal of Approval, Lion & The Lamb Project: ZOOB, Top 10 Recommended Non-Violent Toy
1994 Golden Nica Award, Ars Electronica, Austria
1990 Yale University: Rebecca Porter Taylor Award
1987 Regents Scholar: UC Davis
1987 Ford Foundation Fellowship
1984 Regents Scholar: UC Berkeley
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, inventor, educator, and toy designer based in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Grey holds a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in Art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
and a BS
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
in Genetics
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
from the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, 1984 and a MFA
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
in Sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, 1990. He is the inventor of ZOOB, an award-winning toy modeling system. His artwork, based around his understanding of genetics, language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
, and the origins of form, is shown internationally.
In June 2009 a solo exhibition of Grey's work went on display at the PS1 Contemporary Art Center of MOMA curated by Director, Klaus Bisenbach, held in conjunction with the 2009 Young Architects Program by MOS.
For the past twenty years, Michael Joaquin Grey has been creating work that extends and plays with the boundaries of art, science and media. Critical moments in natural phenomenon and culture are objects in his work, as are the prepositional states of change between matter, energy, behavior, and meaning. Grey's creative dialogue engages epistemological and pedagogical
Pedagogy
Pedagogy is the study of being a teacher or the process of teaching. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction....
creative limitations of the tools and processes we use to observe, learn and play with our world. An early theorization of this was published by the artist in the essay "Jelly Lovers: Dreams of Causality" Art Journal
Art Journal
Art Journal may refer to:* Art Journal , 1941–present, published by College Art Association of America* The Art Journal, 1839–1912, London* Art diary, art journal or visual journal, a daily journal kept by artists...
55:1. The trajectory and cosmology of Grey's work from his sculptural practice to his creation of the ZOOB was chronicled by art historian Edward Shanken
Grey's work has been recognized in publications internationally including Artforum
Artforum
Artforum is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art.-Publication:The magazine is published ten times a year, September through May, along with an annual summer issue...
, Flash Art, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, Leonardo, Artbyte, ID Magazine, Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, The San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, London Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
, Zing Magazine
Zingmagazine
zingmagazine is a reverent contemporary art magazine founded in 1995 by artist Devon Dikeou. zing began as a quarterly, black and white magazine. Its first issue contained projects by Kenny Schachter, Gordon Tapper, Ed Web, Gregory Volk, Donald Fergusson, Michael Corris, Amy Sillman, and Susan...
, Art & Auction
Art & Auction
Art+Auction is a monthly art magazine published in New York City by Louise Blouin Media. The magazine is published 12 times per year; it includes special features & art news stories, art & collector profiles, reviews & auction reports, calendar of art events, art market trends & insider market...
, and The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
.
In the past Grey has exhibited at bitforms gallery
Bitforms gallery
bitforms gallery is a gallery in New York City, New York, United States of America devoted to new media art practices. Breaking new ground in 2001, bitforms gallery has become a destination for artists, curators, and collectors exploring new art forms that lie at the intersection of software and...
, New York and Seoul; the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, New York; Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art; Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
; The New Museum of Contemporary Art
New Museum of Contemporary Art
The New Museum, founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker, is the only museum in New York City exclusively devoted to presenting contemporary art from around the world...
, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami
Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami
The Museum of Contemporary Art is a museum located in the heart of downtown North Miami, Florida. The structure was designed by the internationally acclaimed architecture firm Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects, New York, which worked in conjunction with the Miami firm of Gelabert-Navia to...
; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is a contemporary art museum near Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is one of the world's largest contemporary art venues...
; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego , in San Diego, California, USA, is an art museum focused on the collection, preservation, exhibition, and interpretation of works of art from 1950 to the present.-History:...
; Milwaukee Art Museum
Milwaukee Art Museum
The Milwaukee Art Museum is located on Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.Beginning around 1872, multiple organizations were founded in order to bring an art gallery to Milwaukee, as the city was still a growing port town with little or no facilities to hold major art exhibitions...
; Philbrook Museum of Art
Philbrook Museum of Art
The Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma is an art museum and former home of Oklahoma oil pioneer Waite Phillips and his wife Genevieve Phillips. , the museum has a staff of 60 and an operating budget of nearly $6 million....
, Tulsa; Tel Aviv Museum of Art
Tel Aviv Museum of Art
The Tel Aviv Museum of Art is an art museum in Tel Aviv, Israel. It was established in 1932 in a building that was the home of Tel Aviv's first mayor, Meir Dizengoff. The Helena Rubinstein Pavilion for Contemporary Art opened in 1959. The museum moved to its current location on King Saul Avenue in...
; Nordic Art Center, Helsinki; Norrtalje Konsthall, Sweden; Kunsthalle Loppem, Belgium; Kunstverein Hannover; Serpentine Gallery
Serpentine Gallery
The Serpentine Gallery is an art gallery in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, central London. It focuses on modern and contemporary art. The exhibitions, architecture, education and public programmes attract approximately 750,000 visitors a year...
, London; Brooke Alexander Editions, New York; Lisson Gallery
Lisson Gallery
The Lisson Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in Bell Street, Lisson Grove, London, founded by Nicholas Logsdail in 1967. The gallery represents such artists as Ai Weiwei, John Latham, Sol LeWitt, Robert Mangold, Jonathan Monk, Julian Opie, Richard Wentworth and Turner Prize winners Anish Kapoor...
, London; Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York, and Stuart Regen Gallery, Los Angeles.
Awards
2009 Premier Selection Award, Loop Festival, Barcelona Spain2003 Adobe Public Art Competition Finalist
1999 ID Magazine, ZOOB,Design Distinction
1998 The American Toy Institute Award, ZOOB, Early Childhood News, ZOOB, Director's Choice, National Parenting Center, ZOOB, Seal of Approval, Lion & The Lamb Project: ZOOB, Top 10 Recommended Non-Violent Toy
1994 Golden Nica Award, Ars Electronica, Austria
1990 Yale University: Rebecca Porter Taylor Award
1987 Regents Scholar: UC Davis
1987 Ford Foundation Fellowship
1984 Regents Scholar: UC Berkeley