BIOGRAPHY
Born and based in London, Max Colson works predominantly with digital media and film. His work explores the intersection between architecture and landscape and considers their relationship to hidden socio-political discourses such as those relating to class, national identity, and urbanism.
Recent screenings of work include: Vitrine (London, 2019); Werkleitz Centre for Media Art (Halle, 2019); the Royal Academy (London, 2019); DOK Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film (Leipzig, 2018+2019); Sheffield Doc Fest (Sheffield, 2018); SPACE (London, 2018). He has had UK solo exhibitions in London at the Royal Institute of British Architects (London, 2015) and Arebyte (London, 2017). His short films have been the recipient of awards such as the Tenderpixel Gallery’s Tenderflix Artist Video Prize (UK, 2017) and a finalist of the Lumen Prize (UK, 2019). He was selected to participate in Film London’s FLAMIN Fellowship 2019/20 programme and for the SPACE Art and Technology Residency 2017/18.
He teaches on the MA Graphic Communication Design at Central Saint Martins and is a graduate of London College of Communication’s MA Photojournalism and Documentary Photography (2013).
Short Portfolio PDF for download
e: maxdfcolson [ at ] gmail.com | m: +447 81 78 77 639
2020 Presentations of work
- October, London Knowledge exhibited at ‘Visions in the Nunnery Gallery’, London
- September, Construction Lines and A New Investment Vehicle screened at the Akademie der Künste, Berlin (as part of ‘The Eccentric City’ screening program curated by Nadim Samman of Kunstwerke Berlin)
- August – February 2021, Construction Lines exhibited at Watermans Art Centre, London (online and in-person gallery screening)
- May, Mascara Film Club, London, (screening of various works – post-poned due to Covid-19)
- April, Go Short (film festival), Nijmegen (screening of The Green and Pleasant Land)
- April, Whitechapel Gallery, London (screening supported by Film London FLAMIN Fellowship – post-poned due to Covid-19)
- March, Milano Design Film Festival Greece and Cyprus (screening of Construction Lines – post-poned due to Covid-19)
- January, Plat(t)form 2020, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland
EDUCATION
2013, MA Documentary Photography & Photojournalism, London College of Communication (Grade: Distinction)
2007, BA English Literature, University College London
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2017, The Green and Pleasant Land, Arebyte, London
2015, Virtual Control, Royal Institute of British Architects, London
SELECTED FILM FESTIVALS AND SCREENINGS
2020
Watermans, London
2019
Vitrine gallery, UK (part of a series of screenings curated by William Noel Clarke)
Videorama, Werkleitz Centre for Media Art, Germany
Picturing the City, Royal Academy, UK
DOK Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film, Germany
Cairo Video Festival, Egypt
Milano Design Film Festival, Italy
Concrete Revolution (with Xialou Guo), Bertha DocHouse London, UK (curated by UCL Urban Laboratory)
Arebyte on Screen, UK
6×6 Project, Set Dalston, UK
Shortwaves Festival, Poland
2018
World Architecture Festival, Amsterdam (screening Construction Lines)
Rendered Cities, Apex Art, New York (screening Construction Lines)
Sheffield Doc Fest, Sheffield (screening The Green and Pleasant Land)
Hamburg International Short Film Festival, Germany (screening Construction Lines)
61st International Leizig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film, Germany (screening The Green and Pleasant Land)
Aesthetica Short Film Festival, York (screening The Green and Pleasant Land)
Chicago Underground Film Festival, USA (screening Construction Lines)
2017
Tenderflix Shortlist Screening, RCA London (screening Construction Lines)
Kassel Dokfest, Germany (screening Construction Lines)
Architecture Film Festival London (screening Construction Lines)
Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands (screening Construction Lines)
Milano Film Festival, Italy (screening Construction Lines)
SELECTED GROUP SHOWS
2020
Visions in the Nunnery, The Nunnery Gallery, London
Plat(t)form 2020, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland (portfolio presentation)
2019
Brighton Digital Festival, UK (Group Exhibition)
2018
SPACE Art + Technology Programme Showcase, SPACE, London
London Creative Network Showcase, SPACE, London
Habitarium, La Condition Publique, France
2017
Life 2.0, The Wrong – New Digital Art Biennale
A Place for you to Dream, Republic Gallery, London [exhibiting with Felicity Hammond, Laura Yuile, and Katy Connor]
2016
BoTu: Back and Forth, Showroom MAMA, Netherlands
2015
Data Rush, Noorderlicht Gallery, Netherlands [exhibiting with Mari Bastashevski, Mark Curran, James Bridle, amongst others… ]
The Deleted World (curated by After), 5th Base Gallery, London
2014
Brighton Photo Fringe OPEN14, Victoria Gardens and Regency Townhouse, Brighton
My Secret Life, C/O Berlin, Germany
Cities Methodologies, Slade Research Centre, London
SELECTED AWARDS, RESIDENCIES, BURSARIES
2020
Jarman Award, Nominated
Arts Council England, Emergency Response Fund (COVID-19 support)
2019
Film London FLAMIN Fellowship Programme, Participant
A-N Artist Information Company Bursary, Recipient
Lumen Prize 2019, UK, Shortlisted
Loop Discover Award 2019, Spain, Shortlisted
2018
SPACE Art + Technology Residency, Selected
London Creative Network / SPACE Artist Development Programme, Selected
BFI Short Film Support Grant, Selected
2017
Tenderflix Artist Video Prize, Winner
Best Fiction Short, Architecture Film Festival London, Winner
Arebyte Gallery Residency Programme, Selected
2016
Showroom MAMA Artist Development Residency Programme, Netherlands, Selected
2015
Artquest / The Photographer’s Gallery, Peer Forum Award, Recipient
2014
Leverhulme Artist in Residence, Bartlett School of Architecture, London
2013
Magenta Flash Forward Emerging Photographers Competition, Shortlisted
C/O Berlin: ‘My Secret Life’ International Open competition, Shortlisted
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2019
‘Capital Culture’, Unseen Magazine #6, Netherlands
‘Max Colson satirises post-Brexit UK in a 3D-modelled animation‘, It’s Nice That, UK
2018
Anthology Book featuring Construction Lines, ‘Spots in Shots: Narrating the Built Environment in Short Film’ by Dr. Mélanie van der Hoorn (published by Nai010 Publishers)
Interview, SPACE Art and Technology Artist In Residence Interview(online)
2017
Essay, ‘The Green and Pleasant Land’ (commissioned for The Green and Pleasant Land exhibition at Arebyte gallery, written by Tom Jeffreys)
Article, Digicult, ‘Crude Golden Age: A Comment About the Green and Pleasant Land by Max Colson’ (online – article by Filippo Lorenzin)
Article, 2017 Hackney Citizen, ‘East End Exhibitions – Five of the Best for December 2017’ (print and online)
2016
Anthology Book featuring various projects, Engaged Urbanism: Cities and Methodologies, (book, edited by Prof. Ger Duijzings and Dr. Ben Campkin, published by I.B. Tauris)
Article, Vice, ‘An Artful Deconstruction of London’s Gentrification Problem’ (online)
Article, Space Magazine (Korea), ‘Art and Its Permutation into Urban Space’ (print – article by Jeong Hye Kim) snippets here
2015
Article, POSTmatter (online – written by Louise Benson)
Article, It’s Nice That, ‘Photographer Max Colson Captures Plant Life in the UK’s Most Secure Places’ (online)
Article, Architecture Today (print – review of Virtual Control exhibition by Anna Minton)
Icon magazine (print)
Article, Fast Company Design, ‘An Artists’ Series Exposes the Sneaky Classism of Architectural Renderings’ (online)
Article, It’s Nice That, ‘On the Digital Composite Images Used to Market Luxury Builds’ (online)
Interview, World Photography Organisation(online – interview by Matthew Oxley)
2014
Article, Urban Pamphleteer: Design and Trust (online and print)
Article, Super Massive BlackHole magazine (online)
2013
Anthology Book, Magenta Flash Forward 2013: Emerging Photographers from Canada, the UK and the USA (print)
Interview, Hotshoe International(online – interview by Matthew Oxley)
COLLECTIONS
2019 British Film Institute Archive
TEACHING
2015 to current date, Associate Lecturer, MA Graphic Communication Design, Central Saint Martins
2017 to current date, Academic Support Lecturer, Graphic Communication Design department, Central Saint Martins