Originally from the UK, Chris May is a Melbourne-based photomedia artist working at the intersection of pop, abstraction, constructivism and graphics. His practice is divided between studio-based work and the environment.
In the studio he often uses overlooked, found, or collected materials that are used out of their original context to create compelling abstract forms. It’s a process that he finds cathartic, allowing him to compose these elements in a way that is transformative.
Outside of the studio he explores the fleeting, often overlooked moments that exist at the edges of our natural perception—fragments of memory and experience that emerge and disappear in an instant. Rooted in the day-to-day rhythms of the inner urban environment, these impressions—a shift in colour, a flicker of movement, or the ambiguity of form—are registered and forgotten in the same breath.
Ultimately, his work in photomedia abstraction invites viewers to engage with how we see, rather than what we see—offering a unique perceptual experience that subverts expectation and redefines the act of observation.
Group Exhibitions
2024. UN | STABLE | D. Carlisle St Arts Space St Kilda.
2023. Zodiac. Wolfhound Gallery, Brunswick, Fitzroy.
2022. TwoFour 2022, Yarra Sculpture Gallery.
2022. CCP Salon, Fitzroy, Melbourne.
2021. ZENITH. Yarra Sculpture Gallery. Melbourne.
2021. Elements. Southgate Plaza. Melbourne.
2021. CCP Salon, Fitzroy, Melbourne.
2019. Eyes on the Market. Brunswick Street Gallery. Melbourne.
2019. Fitzroy 3065. Brunswick Street Gallery. Melbourne.
2019. Snapped. Melbourne Docklands Library.
2016. CCP Salon. Fitzroy, Melbourne.
2015. Melbourne Is... Quadrant Gallery, Kew, Melbourne.
2015. CCP Salon. Fitzroy, Melbourne.
2014. Image Chasers. City Library. Melbourne.
Awards
2023. Finalist. LOOK! MAPh. Museum of Australian Photography.
2022. Finalist. Australian Photography Awards.
2021. CCP Salon.
2018. Finalist. Snapped 2018 for City of Melbourne.
Collections
City of Melbourne Library Heritage Archives.
Bachelor of Photography (Art Major). Photography Studies College, Melbourne.