Michael Ajerman was born in 1977 in New York, USA, and lives and works there and in London. After graduating with a diploma from the Corcoran School of Art in New York and the New York Studio School, he participated in the Yale at Norfolk Summer Art Programme; in 2003 he completed his studies with a Master’s Degree from Slade School of Art at University College in London, UK. Michael Ajerman sees painting as a form of self-discovery; a continuous unexpected discovery of the singularity and uniqueness of his being, reflected in oils and watercolours.
Objects become subjects, still lifes take form through an unusual visual syntax that tends to deny identity in order to exalt plastic form and make it the focus with vigorous use of colour. Michael Ajerman’s figures live in an apparently static state, in which the interrupted action of the bodies is examined by the expressionistic power of colour, which is in turn characterised by use of a warm, earthy, enthralling colour palette, visible on the canvas in the form of broad, solid brushstrokes which allow us to perceive the profoundly gestural nature of the act of painting and the pastiness of the colour (A. D’Amico).
2025
Break In, Isabel Sullivan Gallery, New York
Can’t You Hear Me Knocking, SQFT Space Gallery, London
2024
Wild Life, HemingwayArt, Oxford
The Matters, Ein Sof Gallery, London
2020
Grip. Aleph Contemporary. London, UK, 2020
Walker House, Diane Rosenstein Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 2020
2019
Possessions, Diane Rosenstein Gallery in Los Angeles, CA, 2019
2017
Far From Tahiti. HemingwayArt, Oxford, UK, 2017
2013
Squash, Transition Gallery, London, UK, 2013
2012
Inatteso/Unexpected. Galleria Ghetta, Ortisei, Marcorossi Artecontemporanea, Milan and Eventinove Borgomanero, Italy, 2012
2010
Glossolalia. Toomey-Tourrell Gallery, San Francisco, USA, 2010
Fishermen, Strawberry, and Devil Crab. Transition Gallery, London, UK, 2010
Third Floor. Eventinove Artecontemporanea, Torino and Marcorossi Artecontemporanea, Verona, Italy, 2010
2009
My Friends. Jerwood Project Space, London, UK, 2009
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Rothschild Fine Art, Tel Aviv, Israel, 2009
2007
Solo Project Space. Bridge Art Fair, London, UK, 2007
Reclamation Point. Bischoff/Weiss, London, UK, 2007
2006
The Norfolk Lesson. AR Contemporary, Milan, Italy, 2006
2005
Long Way Round. Bischoff/Weiss, London, UK, 2005
2026
The Human Stain, Monica De Cardenas Gallery, Milan, Italy
2025
East Wing Collection, Courtauld Institute, London
2024
The Discerning Eye, Mall Gallery, London
Enchanted Bodies, Blyth Gallery Imperial College, London
A1 vs Ai, SQFT Space Gallery, London
Hampstead Art Society Summer Exhibition, London
2023
East Wing Collection, Courtauld Institute, London
Portrait of Artists, Browse & Darby, London
Boil, Toil + Trouble, Art in Common, Los Angeles e Chicago
Useful Drawing. Eye to Pencil, London
2022
Boil, Toil + Trouble, Art in Common, Miami
Dark Night of the Soul, Oneroom Gallery, London
April Artist Selection, Platform, Diane Rosenstein Gallery, Los Angeles
Foot-Face. Kingsgate Workshops, London, UK, 2021
Lust Gruppenausstellung, Galerie Hübner + Hübner, Frankfurt, Germany, 2021
Next Generation Now. Ruth Borchard Collection, London , UK (Online), 2021
Drawing Biennial 2021, The Drawing Room, London, UK, 2021
Royal Academy Summer Show, Royal Academy, London, UK, 2019
Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize, Piano & Noble, London, UK, 2019
Evening Standard Art Prize, National Gallery, London, UK, 2018
Contemporary British Painting Prize, Richmond Museum, London, UK, 2017
Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize, Piano & Noble, London, UK, 2017
In This Soup We Swim. Kingsgate Workshops, London, UK, 2016
The Names. Transition Gallery, London, UK, 2016
Contemporary Drawing from Britian, Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts, China, 2015
East End Painting Prize, The Rum Factory, London, UK, 2015
Bad For You, curated by Beth Rudin DeWoody. Shizaru Gallery. London, UK, 2012
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, London, UK, 2012
thecentre:mk Painting Exhibition, FRINGEMK, Milton Keynes, UK, 2009
Kunskog, 500 Dollars, London, UK, 2009
Threadneedle Painting Prize 2009, London, UK, 2009
East Wing Collection 8. Courtauld Galleries. London, UK, 2009
2018
Kitaj Research Fellowship, UCLA, USA
2014/2
Manhattan Graphics Center, borsa di studio Summerink, USA
2003
British Institute Royal Academy Award, Regno Unito
2003/2
Slade Bursary, Slade School of Fine Art, Regno Unito
1996
William Newman Memorial Painting Award
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