PIERS SECUNDA

Two threads run through Piers Secunda's practice: one derived from a modernist discourse, the other from geopolitics; the former sees the artist using paint as a sculptural material, free from the traditional restraints of two-dimensional application; the latter shows a deep engagement with the most pressing issues of our time, from war to climate change. In 2008 Piers started working with crude oil as an artistic medium - his interest arising from how it facilitates all our daily activities. Another ongoing series captures bullet damage from around the world in forensic detail. The artist has travelled to Kabul, Afghanistan to take casts of Taliban bullet holes from suicide bomb attack sites, and, two weeks before the Paris terror attacks, to Iraqi Kurdistan to take casts of ISIS bullet holes from front line villages, recently liberated by the Peshmerga (Kurdish military).

Piers Secunda was born in 1976 and studied Painting at Chelsea College of Art. His work has been exhibited in galleries and public spaces in a dozen countries, alongside artists including Anthony Caro and Andy Warhol. His work also hangs in private collections around the world with artists such as Frank Stella and Damien Hirst. He lives and works in London.

Download CV
"The Missing: Rebuilding the Past" (May 2016)
"The Rise of Oil" (November 2014)