Michael Campbell

Michael Campbell is an internationally exhibited interdisciplinary artist whose work spans sculpture, photography, sound, video and installation. Born in Scarborough, Michael holds a BFA from the University of Toronto and an MFA from Concordia University, and spent many years as a professor of art at the University of Lethbridge. His work has been exhibited across Canada and internationally, including in Paris and Berlin, and is held in permanent collections including the Canada Council Art Bank and Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

Behind those credentials is a decidedly unconventional artistic mind. The Comox Valley Art Gallery describes Michael as interested in “obsolete technologies, remote landscapes, purposeless inventions, suburban boredom, bad sci-fi films, utopic schemes, adolescent fantasy sketchbooks and handmade tools.” Working from his studio at Geoffrey Road’s End, he incorporates wood, stone, metal and found objects alongside sound and moving image. His Field Recordings of Icebergs Melting, first exhibited in 2008, has toured in Canada and France. Michael has also collaborated extensively with fellow Hornby artist Janice Rahn on video and installation works exhibited in Canada and internationally.

Michael is increasingly part of Hornby’s arts community. On the Board of Directors of Hornby Arts, he was among the Geoffrey Road artists featured in Archaeology of Place, the first exhibition in the new Hornby Arts Centre, curated by New York gallerist James Cohan. He also opens his studio during Hornby’s Studio Tours.

Michael also hosts The Lambert Channel on Hornby Island’s community radio station, CHFR 96.5 FM, Sundays from 3–5 p.m.

A familiar presence at Hornby art events, sometimes in a kilt, Michael brings an intensely individual perspective to his work. His art draws our attention to the strange, overlooked and seemingly purposeless things around us, inviting us to look at them again.