Exhibition

The 365 Project: Michael Petry – The Civil War Project

In May 2026, Petry will be a resident and the featured artist of the 365 Project at the Vorres Museum in Athens. As part of this program, he will create a new large-scale painting installation for his work The Civil War Project, which opens on Saturday, May 2.

The works CWP11, CWP12, and CWP15 are studies for a much larger painting, measuring 7 meters in length, which he plans to create during his residency at the Vorres Museum.

Petry began this new series in early 2025, before Trump was sworn in for a second term as President of the United States. He felt a strong premonition that a dark shadow was spreading over the U.S. and the world. He experienced an urgent need to create works addressing the rise of far-right politics and its appeal, regardless of history and despite the warnings found directly in Trump’s own words, as he has repeatedly joked about wanting to become a dictator. According to the artist, the global chaos he has caused is already historically documented. He, along with other extremists, is pushing toward a civil war in the United States, while Petry’s use of camouflage as a metaphor for what lies hidden beneath a glossy surface reminds the viewer of the enduring allure of fascism.

At the Vorres Museum, Petry will produce a very large camouflage painting, at least 777 cm in length, which will be installed at the end of his residency within the 365 Project space in the museum’s gallery.

The artist alludes to the historical use of camouflage in art, such as in the work of Andy Warhol, but here he creates every brushstroke by hand. He also employs a historical visual format, the triptych, traditionally used for narrative purposes, often with biblical references. The controversial deployment of troops by Trump in cities that oppose him—reported to have resulted in the deaths of two innocent civilians, documented globally in real time—has, according to the text, transformed a cold conflict into a hot one. Petry states that he takes no satisfaction in correctly identifying the targets of the Washington government and wonders whether he, like Cassandra, will ultimately go unheard.

The exhibition will run until June 30, 2026.

Opening: Saturday, May 2, 2026.

Information

The 365 Project: Michael Petry – The Civil War Project

Dates: Saturday, May 2, 2026 – Tuesday, June 30, 2026
Opening hours: Saturday & Sunday 10:00-14:00

The program titled “The 365 Project”, in which an artist is invited every two months to present a new work among the Museum Gallery’s existing artworks, is organized and curated by Olga Daniilopoulou.

Bio

Michael Petry

Michael Petry (b. Texas, 1960) has lived in London since 1981. He studied at Rice University, Houston (BA), London Guildhall University (MA), and has a Doctor in Arts from Middlesex University. Petry is an artist, author and Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) London, and writes for Huffington Post. He co-founded the Museum of Installation, was Guest Curator at the Kunstakademiet, Oslo, Research Fellow at the University of Wolverhampton, Guest Curator for Futurecity and was Curator of the Royal Academy Schools Gallery. Petry is a Fellow of the Royal British Society of Sculptors (FRBS) and a Brother of the Art Workers Guild. Petry co-authored Installation Art (1994), and Installation in the New Millennium (2003), and authored Abstract Eroticism (1996) and A Thing of Beauty is…(1997). The Trouble with Michael, a monograph of his practice, was published by Art Media Press in 2001. Petry’s book Hidden Histories: 20th century male same sex lovers in the visual arts (2004) was the first comprehensive survey of its kind, and accompanied the exhibition Hidden Histories he curated for The New Art Gallery Walsall. His two-volume book Golden Rain (2008) accompanied his installation for the On the Edge exhibition for Stavanger 2008, European Capital of Culture. Petry was the first Artist in Residence at Sir John Soane’s Museum (2010/11) exhibiting two bodies of work, published in Smoke & Mirrors (2011). His one man show The Touch of the Oracle at the Palm Springs Art Museum (2012) was accompanied by a ten year career review book. Petry’s work was included in the 2015 Frontiers Reimagined at the Venice Biennale, and his one-man show AT the Core of the Algorithm accompanied his Campbell Lectures at Rice University. Recent solo shows include: A Twist in Time, at Pallant House Gallery, Chichester (2016) and In the Realm of the Gods, at the Holburne Museum, Bath 2017/8.

Petry’s books include The Art of Not Making: The New Artist Artisan Relationship for Thames & Hudson (hardback, 2011, paperback, 2012) and Nature Morte: Contemporary Artists reinvigorate the Still-Life tradition ( published in 2013 in 4 hard back editions, T&H [UK/American], Hirmer [German] and Ludion [Dutch] and The WORD is Art (T&H, hardback:2018,Paperback:2021) looks at the use of text in contemporary art. They have had extensive touring exhibitions based on the books at major museums across Europe (see Projects). His current book is Mirror Mirror: the reflective surface in contemporary art (see Mirror Mirror).