Viewing room

What Remains

Michael John Hunter

Jealous East

05 Sep 2019 — 15 Sep 2019

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Jealous is delighted to host Michael John Hunter’s first solo exhibition ‘What Remains’ in Shoreditch this September.

The artist explores ideas of perception and presumptions; in a time of fake news his practice seems all the more relevant. At first glance, the photographer’s imagery appears to show objects in a carefully constructed miniature setting. However, extraordinarily, it is the objects themselves that are the fabrication of this story.

Entirely self-funded, Hunter’s hand-sculpted objects can take a year to faithfully recreate with the most miniscule of detail. To date, his objects have included a bluebottle fly, a toy robot, a Barbie doll and, most recently, a toy paper airplane. Once created, the artist spends much time scouring for the perfect real-life location to photograph the work, which essentially needs to supply lighting and a climbable height for the perfect shot. Finally, Hunter loads the work into a van in the early hours of the morning, to ensure the selected location is deserted. Using an analogue ‘tilt shift photography’ technique, the resulting photograph is created in-camera creating an unnatural focus, tricking the viewer. ‘What Remains’ will showcase a series of limited edition prints, alongside Hunter’s awe-inspiring gigantic sculptures, which will be displayed in public for the first time.

"Just as children alter their reality with imagination…I want to challenge the viewer's ideas of what is real and what is an illusion. I want them to open their minds and be more childlike again."

London based artist Michael John Hunter specialises in sculpture and photography. Hunter studied Fine Art Photography at The University of Edinburgh and now works within the film industry. His practice has taken 10 years to perfect; creating enormous hyper-realistic and highly detailed replicas of children’s toys and insects and installing these in real-life locations. The sculptures are photographed at night, from a certain height and angle and using a specific focus technique which ‘fakes macro photography’. The resulting works explore how imagery can manipulate how we view our world. His work has been featured extensively, including articles on It’s Nice That and Creative Boom.

Shop the artwork

Michael John Hunter

London based artist Michael John Hunter specialises in sculpture and photography. Hunter studied Fine Art Photography at The University of Edinburgh and now works within the film industry. His practice has taken 10 years to perfect; creating enormous hyper-realistic and highly detailed replicas of children’s toys and insects and installing these in real-life locations. The sculptures are photographed at night, from a certain height and angle and using a specific focus technique which ‘fakes macro photography’. The resulting works explore how imagery can manipulate how we view our world.
His work has been featured extensively, including articles on It’s Nice That and Creative Boom.