This website provides an introductory gateway into Finnemore’s imagination, concepts and creative process. The images here are representative of projects, which in-themselves, contain substantial bodies of work.

Peter Finnemore is an artist who seeks to ‘make visible’, he embraces the broad range and language of photographic art practice. Investigating the dynamic interchange between, biography & presence, generational memory, culture, history and origins.

His first major exhibition was in 1986, where he was selected for the New Contemporaries exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. He has since exhibited in solo and group exhibitions both nationally and internationally, including, representing Wales at the 51st Venice Biennale (2005). In 2014, Finnemore was included in a major volume - Photography Today, edited by Mark Durden and published by Phaidon, which is a survey of influential international contemporary photography.

Major published works include Gwendraeth House (Ffotogallery, 2000) and Zen Gardener (Oriel Mostyn, 2004). Album / Silent Village catalogue (Ffotogallery, 2010)

Finnemore’s photographic artworks and films are included in a number of private and public collections including Arts Council of Great Britain, Scottish Arts Council, National Museums of Wales Collection, Argos Center for Media and Art - Brussels, Lidice Memorial Museum - Czech Republic, The Art Museum at Princeton University - USA, Light Work – photography and digital media center - Syracuse - USA and Chrysler Museum of Art - New Jersey,USA.

Coinciding with a career as an Independent Artist, Finnemore’s experience includes a range of overlapping roles within artistic education throughout the UK.


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PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

The Art Museum, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
Chrysler Museum of Art, Virginia, USA
Light Work, Syracuse, New York, USA
The Arts Council Collection, Hayward Gallery, London, England
National Galleries and Museums of Wales, Cardiff, Wales
Scottish Arts Council, Edinburgh, Scotland
Glynn Vivian Art Gallery and Museum, Swansea, Wales
Contemporary Art Society of Wales, Cardiff, Wales
Oriel Mostyn Collection, Llandudno, Wales
Orchard Education Centre, Hamilton, Scotland
 
EDUCATION

1994 Master of Fine Art, Photography, University of Michigan, USA
1988 Post-graduate Diploma, Fine Art, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow
1984 BA Hons, Fine Art Photography, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow
1982 Foundation Art Certificate, Dyfed College of Art, Carmarthen

RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

1997 – Present Freelance Independent Artist and Educator
2017 – Present External Examiner in Photography at Sheffield Hallam University
2017 – 2017 Visiting Lecturer in Photography at Swansea School of Art,
2016 ACW Selection Panel Member, Wales at the Venice Biennale 2017
2015 Selector with Helen Seer, EPSY Photo Award, Elysium Gallery, Swansea
2014 Chair, Local Arts and Crafts Committee, National Eisteddfod of Wales
2010 - 2013  Visiting Professor in Photography, University of Derby, Derby, England,
2005 – 2012 Researcher / Lecturer, Swansea Metropolitan University, Swansea.
2007-09 Welsh Language Fellow in Photography (0.5), University of Wales Newport,
2005 – 09 Visiting Professor in Photography, University of Derby, Derby, England,
2007 Commissioned by the Observatory of Innovation, Cardiff. Creating artwork to accompany 3 conferences on themes concerning - adapting Wales to climate change, regional development and the promotion of the Welsh language within the workplace
2006 Selector, Arts and Crafts, National Eisteddfod of Wales, Swansea
2006 Selector, Oriel Davies Open 2006, Newtown, Wales
1999 Artist In Residence, Light Work Visual Studies, Syracuse, New York, USA
2000 Commissioned by Cywaith Cymru / Artworks Wales for installation and   performance artwork for their pavilion during The National Eisteddfod of Wales in Llanelli    
1995 Fellow at the American Graduate Photography Seminar, Tisch School of Arts, New York, USA
1995 Assistant Professor in Photography University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
 
SOLO EXHIBITIONS (selected)
 
2018 A Christmas Show , SU11, Experimental Testspace Cardiff, Wales
2017 Between the Lines, Diffusion International Photography Festival, The Zeitgeist, Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, Wales
2016 Psy Ops , Art Lacuna, London, England
2014 Nature Boy , Millennium Court Arts Centre, Portadown, N. Ireland
2009-10 Recent Acquisitions Glynn Vivian Art Gallery and Museum, Swansea, Wales
2007 Futures and Regions, Clarion Hotel, Sligo, Ireland
2007 Project Jedi and other Stories, Utah Arts Centre, Ephraim, Utah, USA
2005 Project Jedi, Gallery Boreas, Brooklyn, NY, USA
2005 Project Jedi, Gallery 40000, Chicago, USA
2005 Zen Gardener, Moravarian Gallery, Bruno, Czech Republic
2005 Zen Gardener, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery and Museum, Swansea, Wales, UK
2005 Zen Gardener, Turner House, Penarth, Wales, UK
2004 Zen Gardener, Oriel Mostyn, Llandudno, Wales, UK
2003 Field of Vision, Bedford Creative Arts Gallery, Bedford, England, UK
2001 Gwendraeth House, Oriel 31, Newtown, Wales, UK
2000 In the Year 2525- installation artwork, National Eisteddfod of Wales, Llanelli, Wales, UK
2000 Gwendraeth House, Mission Gallery, Swansea, Wales, UK
2000 Gwendraeth House, FFotogallery, Cardiff, Wales
1995 Inheritance, Cambridge Darkroom, Cambridge
1994 Finnemore's Wake, Matrix Gallery, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
1993 Inheritance, Streetlevel Gallery, Glasgow
   
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (selected)

2018  Future Former, Stamps School of Art, University of Michigan, USA
2018 Soundscapes, sound installation, National Trust Pavilion, National Eisteddfod of Wales, Cardiff
2017 The Laughable Enigma of the Everyday,
Arquipelago,  Centro de Artes Contemporâneas, Azores, Portugal
2016 Double Act: Art & Comedy Bluecoat, The Centre for Contemporary Arts, Liverpool, England
2015 QuintessenseArchisle: The Jersey Contemporary Photography Programme
Jersey Arts Centre, England
2015 Belfast Culture Night, Source HQ, Belfast, N. Ireland
2015 Daylight Not Scared, Gartenstudio, Berlin, Germany                       
2015  Blast (a Colony project), Tabernacle Newydd, Port Talbot, Wales
2014 Artisterium 7 – Out of Nowhere, Centre of Contemporary Art, Tbilisi, Georgia
2014 Le Jour Le Plus Court/ What a Day, Argos Centre for Art and Media, Brussels, Belgium
2012 An Uncommon Past , Sichuan Fine Art Gallery, ChongQuing, China
2012 Supertramp ,G39 Gallery, Cardiff, Wales                     
2012 The Silent Village, DOX Centre of Contemporary Art, Prague, Czech Republic   
2011 I Cannot Escape This Place (inaugural opening of new gallery spaces) National Museums and Galleries, Wales, Cardiff, Wales
2010 We have the Mirrors,We have the Plans, Oriel Mostyn, Llandudno, Wales
2010 The Silent Village,Turner House, Penarth, Wales
2009 Extraordinary Days, Oriel Davies, Newtown, Wales
2009 Sight and Sound, National Galleries and Museums Wales, Cardiff
2008 Bad Joke, Riga Art Space, Riga, Latvia
2008 Unreliable Truths (transformation & illusion in photographic practice), Glynn Vivian Art Gallery and Museum, Swansea, Wales, UK
2008 Fantasy / Denial – Ffotogallery commissions in Wales – part ll, Ffotogallery @ Turnerhouse, Penarth, Wales
2008 Artfutures 2008, Bloomsberg Art Space, London, England
2007 Bad Joke, Center of Contemporary Arts, Tallinn, Estonia
2007 Sequences, Real Time Festival, Laborious, Reykjavik, Iceland
2007 Between Us, National Newark Building, Newark, New Jersey, USA
2007 Year 07 London Art Fair, County Hall, London, England
2007 In Your Backyard. : New Housing in the City, Suburb and Country, Lynch Architects Pavilion, Ideal Home Exhibition, London
2007 London Video Archives, Festival de Videoarte del Mercado de las Flores, Madrid, Spain
2006 Gstaad Film Festival, Gstaad, Gstaad, Switzerland
2006 Somewhere Else / Something Else - Wales at the Venice Biennale, Oriel Davies, Newtown, Wales, UK
2006 Short Turns, Argos, Brussels, Belgium
2006 Between Us, National Newark Building, Newark, New Jersey, USA
2006 Aqua - Site-Ations Art International, Deositos de Pignatelli, Zaragoza, Spain
2006 Humor Me, H&R Block Artspace, Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, USA
2005 Brought to Light, Oriel Mostyn, Llandudno, Wales, UK
2005 Loop / Off Loop, Video Art Festival, Espai Ubu, Barcelona, Spain
2005 Somewhere Else, 51st International Art Festival, Venice Biennale, The Ex Birreria, Giudecca, Venice, Italy
2005 Green, The Winchester Gallery, Winchester, England, UK
2005 Diva, (Digital Arts Fair) Paris and Cologne
2005 Over & Over, Again & Again, Centre of Contemporary Art, Vilnius, Lithuania
2004 Horizon, Haagse Kunstkring, Den Haag, Netherlands
2003 Elsewhere, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery and Museum, Swansea, Wales, UK
2002 Ystir Y Tir / The Meaning of the Land, Festival Interceltique de Lorient, Brittany, France
2001 "Wales" - Unauthorized Versions, House of Croatian Artists, Zagreb, Croatia
2001 Recent Acquisitions, The Art Museum, University of Princeton, New Jersey, USA
2000 Locws International, Ty Llen, Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea, Wales, UK
1999 Certain Welsh Artists, National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, Wales, UK
1999 Superstructure, Center of Visual Art, Cardiff, Wales, UK
1998 New British Photography, Real Gallery, New York, USA
1996 Book Art, Glynn Vivian Gallery, Swansea, Wales
1995 Fellowship Exhibition, American Photography Institute, New York, USA
1992 Discursive Landscapes, Mai De la Photo, Reims, France
1991 Pivot, Photographers From Wales and Philadelphia, Oriel Mostyn, Llandudno, Wales
1990 Camera Art In Scotland, Houston Photofest, Texas, USA
1990 New Scottish Photography, National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
1989 Young European Photographer, Frankfurt, Germany
1986 New Contemporaries, institute of Contemporary Arts, London,
                                           
AWARDS

2018 British Council / Ffotogallery Award to attend Jaipur Photography Festival, Jaipur, India.
2017 The Ivor Davies Award, National Eisteddfod of Wales, Ynis Mon
2016 Project Development Grant (Collaboration with CBM and Bryan Thomas) Arts Council of Wales
2006 Gorsedd Y Beirdd Ynis Prydain / The Gorsedd of Bards of the Isle of Britain
2005 Gold Medal for Visual Arts, National Eisteddfod of Wales Eryri a'r Cyffiniau 2005 - Snowdon and its vicinity 2005
2003 Creative Wales Award, Arts Council of Wales
1999 Artist in Residence Fellowship, Light Work, Syracuse, NY, USA
1996 Winner The Eighth Oriel Mostyn Open Exhibition
1995 Fellowship, American Photography Institute, Graduate Seminar, New York, USA
1994 Rackham Dissertation Thesis Grant, Horace Rackham School of Graduate Studies, University of Michigan
1992-1994 Thomas and Elizabeth Williams Scholarship
1990 1st and 2nd Prize for color photography  Eisteddfod Genedleithol Cymru/National Eisteddfod of Wales

PUBLICATIONS (selected)

2017 Black & White Photography, Magazine, April 2017 feature with essay by Vicki Painting
2016 Double Act: Art and Comedy, Catalogue, ed. David Campbell & Mark Durden, Bluecoat, Liverpool
2014 Photography Today: A History of Contemporary Photography ed. Mark Durden, Phaidon Press, London
2014 Artiserium 7, Houston We Have a Problem, Tbilisi International Contemporary Arts Exhibition, Catalogue
2014 Cornerstone – photographs 1990 - 2014, Artist Book, ed. of 20. Bookworks, London
2010 The Silent Village (book), Ffotogallery, Cardiff, Wales
2010 We Have the Mirrors.. (book) Mostyn, Llandudno, Wales
2010 The Architectural Review (magazine) Volume 1357, London
2009 Blown (magazine) issue 1, Pearl Publishing / Arts Council of Wales
2008 Unreliable Truths (transformation & illusion in photographic practice) Glynn Vivian Art Gallery and Museum (catalogue)          
2007 Next Level – Art /Photography / Ideas (magazine) Edition 12 - Glasgow, Creative Scape Limited, London, England
2006 Fotograf (magazine) New Staged Photography, issue no7, Vol 5. Medica Publishing, Brno, Czech Republic
2006 Site-ations International Europe 2005-2006catalogue
2005 Somewhere Else Wales at the 51st Venice Biennale,            catalogue, Arts Council of Wales, Wales
2005 Brought to Light, (catalogue) Oriel Mostyn, Llandudno, Wales
2005 Over & Over, Again & Again, catalogue, Contemporary Art   Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania
2005 Contact Sheet, The Light Work Annual 2005 (magazine) Light Work, Syracuse, New York, USA
2004 Zen Gardener catalogue, Oriel Mostyn, Llandudno, Wales
2004 The Vacuum issue 17  (newsletter) Obscure Objects of Desire - essay, Factotum, Belfast, N. Ireland          
2002 Locws International   catalogue, Locws International Publications, Swansea Museum
2002 Imaging Wales, book, Wales Arts International & Seren   Publishers,Wales
2002 Ha Ha - Margam Revisited, catalogue, Ffotogallery and Seren publishers, Wales                    
2002 Source Magazine, issue 32, Autumn 2002                              
2000 Gwendraeth House Catalogue, Ffotogallery, Cardiff, Wales
2000 Contact Sheet, The Light Work Annual (issue 107) Magazine, Light Work Visual Studies, Syracuse, New York, USA
2000  Portfolio Magazine (issue no.31) Portfolio Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
1999  Certain Welsh Artists - Custodial Aesthetics, book (including essay and images Lesson 56  - Wales, Seren Publishers, Bridgend, Wales
1999  Superstructure, Catalogue, Centre of Visual Art, Cardiff, Wales
1992  Nueva Fotografia Escocesa, catalogue Centro Cultural Del Conde Duque, Madrid, Spain
1992 “Postcards from Post Industrial Britain” Creative Camera, No. 316, June/July 1992
1991  Pivot: 16 Artists Using Photography in Wales and   Philadelphia catalogue, Leeds, England, Jackson and Wilson, 1991
1990 New Scottish Photography catalogue. National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh