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About

Al Hopwood is an award-winning artist, writer and curator. Over a 25-year career he has made moving image, digital, performance and exhibition projects with international galleries and museums including Tate Britain, Hayward Gallery, ICA London, Wellcome Collection, CCCB (Barcelona), Espacio Fundación Telefónica Madrid, Science Gallery Bengaluru, V&A, Talbot Rice Gallery, Freud Museum London and Mona (Tasmania). 

 

In 2013 he was the first visual artist to be awarded a prestigious Wellcome Trust Engagement Fellowship and in 2019 he co-curated the critically acclaimed Smoke and Mirrors: The Psychology of Magic at Wellcome Collection attracting over 175,000 visitors. He’s worked under several different guises including as the WITH Art Collective - an idiosyncratic, playful project based at withyou.co.uk that has been described by critics as “the most original artist project in Britain today” and by Time Out London as being like “the brainchild of self-confessed business artist Andy Warhol”. Hopwood’s False Memory Archive has toured internationally since 2013 to over 300,000 people in solo and group exhibitions. 

 

Hopwood’s work has attracted extensive coverage from across a wide range of media platforms including Frieze Magazine, Art Review, Art Forum, Art Monthly, MetaMute, Photomonitor, Dazed, Time Out London, Guardian, Observer, The Times, The Independent, Wall Street Journal, The Wire India, Mirror, New Scientist, BBC Radio 4, BBC 6 Music, BBC World Service, BBC Global News and ABC Australia. His work is in private collections in the UK, USA and Europe and he was recently awarded an unconditional Visual Arts PhD by Publication, from the University of Westminster. He is an AKO Storytelling Fellow at University of the Arts London.

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CV - Selected highlights

2022 / 23  

 

Awarded AKO Storytelling Institute Fellowship from University of the Arts, London. Starting September 2023.           

 

Artist Residency at Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities at University of Oxford, launching The Museum of Revelatory Fakes (MoRF) with Professor Patricia Kingori.

Collaboration with psychologist Steven Frenda: Commission for exhibition Psyche at Science Gallery Bengaluru, India.    

 

Exhibiting artist in Brain(s) at CCCB (Barcelona) and Espacio Fundación Telefónica (Madrid) between July 2022 - July 2023 

 

Do They Owe us a Living? Group exhibition at The Royal Standard Liverpool. Curated by Simon Willems

 

Developing script for 3 part TV series called The Makeover with director Chloe Thomas

        

2020 / 2021

 

WITH TV launched and first 5 commissions completed

The Wrong Project: Preface - Remote residency at Kings College London on The Healthy Scepticism Project

    

2019

  

Ethics of Deception Six part essay series for Wellcome Collection

Smoke and Mirrors: The Psychology of Magic Curated project with Honor Beddard at Wellcome Collection

Gorillas In Our Midst WITH solo commission for Mona, Hobart, Tasmania

Redesign Your Life. Script for feature length film written during Wellcome Trust Engagement Fellowship.

 

Pre-2019 Solo Exhibitions and Projects

 

2016-2018

 

False Memory Archive, Galerie Schunck, Herleen, Holland

False Memories with Evelien van den Broek, November Music Festival, Holland

False Memory Archive Anthology Publication

 

2013-2014

 

False Memory Archive, Freud Museum London

False Memory Archive, Carroll/Fletcher Project Space, London

False Memory Archive, Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh

False Memory Archive, Newlyn Art Gallery and The Exchange

False Memory Archive: Hot Air, Warwick Arts Centre / Mead Gallery

 

2010-2012

 

WITH: Withstore_02, Multiplied Art Fair, Christies, London

WITH: Resident, Chapter, Cardiff

WITH: Withstore_01, Rokeby, London

 

2007-2009

WITH: And, Artprojx Space, London

WITH: Withyou.co.uk, Rokeby, London

WITH: Disafreement, Crawford Collectors Group Commission

WITH: Powerm, Manifesto Commission, Art Review Magazine

WITH: Recruit, Hayward Gallery, London (performance)

WITH: Violentome, Plymouth Arts Centre

WITH Adverts, for Resonance FM, Frieze Art Fair, London

WITH Outreach, British Council, New Delhi, India

 

2004-2006

WITH TV, ICA, London (performance)

WITH Water, ICA, London (performance)

WITH: Traumaformer, ICA, London (performance)

WITH: Me At Work Now, Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, London (Cabaret)

WITH: Knowidea, Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, London (Cabaret)

WITH Re:launch, ICA, London (Performance)

Club WITH, Beaconsfield Contemporary Art (Cabaret)

WITH 015, Liverpool Biennial (Independents), Liverpool (Commission)

WITH: Chase Me, SOMA Magazine, New York

Pre 2019 Selected Group Exhibitions and Projects

 

2016-2018

Exceptions of Rule: Counterpoints to Truth, ADM Gallery, Singapore

Lost Memory, French Cultural Centre, Boston, USA

States Of Mind: Edges of Consciousness, Wellcome Collection, London

The Multiple Store, London Art Fair, London

 

2010-2012

Hypothetical Talks curated by Barry Sykes, Website and various venues

Game On, Westwerk, Hamburg

Curators Egg, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London

Personal Use, Cafe Gallery Projects, London

 

2007-2009

Mother Nature, K3, Zurich

The Earth Not a Globe I, Rokeby, London

Syndicate, Rokeby, London

Terminal, Tate Britain, London

Exchange, The Arts Gallery, London

Fashion vs. Sport, Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Fusion Now! Rokeby, London

2003-2005    

 

Chronicepoch, Beaconsfield Gallery Vauxhall, London

The Mythological Machine, Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Centre    

Inspector London/Berlin, Media Arts Festival, Bangkok

Art of Survival, Czech Centre, London

Art of Survival, Prague Biennial, Veletrzniho Palac, Prague

 

Education

 

2020-2023    PhD by Publication. Misinformation as Material: Towards the use of cognitive psychology as a research tool for artists

(passed with no corrections). Supervisor: Professor Neal White. CREAM, University of Westminster.

1999-2000    MA Fine Art Curatorship, Goldsmiths, University of London

1995-1998    BA Fine Art, Sheffield Hallam University

1994-1995    BTEC Foundation Art and Design, Thurrock Technical College

 

Awards and Grants

 

2022    TORCH Knowledge Exchange Fellowship, Oxford University 

2021    Enriching Engagement Grant, Oxford University 

2020    Covid emergency funding, Arts Council England 

2014    Wellcome Trust Engagement Fellowship

2016    Climart Commission shortlisted artist, NTNU Trondheim, Norway 

2013    Arts Council England, Grants for the Arts, National touring grant 

2013    Wellcome Trust Grant Award for False Memory Archive national tour 

2011    Wellcome Trust Grant Award for False Memory Archive R&D

2009    Method - Artists as Leaders Scheme, British Council (In-kind support)

2006    Arts Council England, Project Grant for WITH Events 2006 

2005    Arts Council England, Professional Development Grant Award 

2002    Investment Scheme for WITH Project 

1999    AHRB, Study award for Masters 

 

Selected Conferences / Talks

 

2022    Misinformation as Material, Sotheby’s Institute London

2022    Introducing MoRF: University of Oxford

 

2015-2017

Secrets of the Soul: Dialogues on Mind, Art and Psychoanalysis, University College London

False Memory Archive, The Fascinating Phenomenon of False Memory, Goldsmiths, University of London.

Cinema and Memory, Centre for the Study of Cultural Memory, Senate House Library, University of London

False Memory Archive lecture, European Skeptics Congress, Goldsmiths, University of London

 

2013-2014

False Memory Archive public lecture, City Lit University

The Construction of Memory. Freud Museum. Conference about the FMA with speakers Prof. Martin Conway, Prof. Dany Nobus, Dr. Sharon Kivland and Prof. Christopher French.

False Memory Archive lecture, Greenwich Skeptics in the Pub

False Memory Archive in conversation. Talbot Rice Gallery    

False Memory Archive Conference. The Exchange Penzance. With Prof. Christopher French, Dr. David Barrett and Dr. Kimberley Wade

False Memory Archive, Fortean Society invited speaker series

False Memory Archive, Hot Air. Mead Gallery with Dr. Kimberley Wade.

False Memory Archive at Edinburgh Science Festival with Prof. Sergio Della Sala, Prof. Richard Wiseman, Dr. Caroline Watt and Prof. Christopher French (conference)

 

2011-2012

Investing In Artists, Bloomsbury Art Fair, ArtInsight

(False) Memories Are Made Of This, APRU Invited Speaker Series, Goldsmiths

(False) Memories Are Made Of This, Chapter, Cardiff (with Prof. Christopher French)

Insider Advice, Artsmart Weekend, Chelsea College Of Art, ArtInsight

Always On, Transmission Series, Sheffield Hallam University

 

2005-2009

Always On, Artist Talk Series, ICA London

Always On, Rokeby Gallery, London

This Is WITH, Space Gallery, London (As part of ‘Corporate Personae’ series)

This Is WITH, Royal Society of Arts, London

 

Curatorial Activity

 

2019    Smoke and Mirrors: The Psychology of Magic curated in collaboration with Honor Beddard from Wellcome Collection.

2000-2003    

Administrator / Curatorial Assistant, Beaconsfield Gallery Vauxhall, London. Exhibitions included:

Drawing Space - Sheela Gowda, NS Harsha and Nasreem Mohamedi

Fragmens sur les Institutions Republicaines IV - Shane Cullen

Afterlife - Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey

Club  - Wilken Schade, Eva Stenram and Simon Wood

Shozo Shimamoto - new commission with Gutai artist

The Agreement - Shane Cullen (touring exhibition)

Voices From the Id - John Isaacs

2 Sculptures - Markus Copper

 

We’re Spending 4 Weeks At Beaconsfield, So Lets Hope Everything Goes OK (Part 4), Noble And Silver. Residency and Exhibition, curated with Paula Orrell and Beaconsfield.

 

1996-1999    

Brainstorm, Goldsmiths, University of London.

Elastic Frontiers Art Festival, Sheffield.

Bibliography / Writing

 

2019

Online Series: The Ethics of Deception Wellcome Collection

    

Scientific Paper: Nonbelieved Memories in The False Memory Archive Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition. Henry Otgaar, Charlotte Bucken, Mark Howe, Kim Wade and A.R. Hopwood.

    

Book: Spectacle of Illusion by Matt Tompkins. Thames and Hudson. 

 

Exhibition Catalogue: Gorillas in our Midst, Published by Mona.

 

2016 -2018    

Book: The Memory Illusion by Julia Shaw. Published by Penguin Random House. Extracts from the False Memory Archive featured throughout this best seller.

 

Book: False Memory Archive Anthology: Volume 1. WITH Publishing.

Anthology publication and collection of essays reflecting on the touring exhibition False Memory Archive.

    

Book: States of Mind, Introduction by Mark Haddon. Published by Profile. False Memory Archive included.

 

Book: Diving for Seahorses, Hilde Østby and Ylva Østby, Published by New South. False Memory Archive featured throughout.

 

2007-2011    

Contributor to Art Review Magazine as a reviewer of books and exhibitions. Articles included:

Piccadilly Community Centre, Christoph Buchel

Street Art, Cedar Lewisohn

The World As A Stage, Tate Modern

The Ten Cent Plague, David Hadju

Iron Fists, Branding The 20th Century Totalitarian State, Steven Heller

Kalanag, Jonathan Allen, David Risley Gallery

No More Mr. Nice Guy, Bedwyr Williams, Store Gallery

Institute Of Psychoplasmics, Pumphouse Gallery

Peter McDonald, Kate MacGarry

Neil Boorman, Bonfire Of The Brands

 

2002-2003

Arts Editor of Sleazenation Magazine. Articles included:

A Certain Resonance, Resonance FM

A Final Hit, Guy Bourdin

Art For Tourists, Saatchi Gallery

Beggars Belief, An Art Student Guide

Insider Feeling, Art Rumour

Mutiny In Prague, Artist View of a Biennale

Frieze Frame, Frieze Art Fair

City Not So Slickers, City Racing

Runners and Riders, Turner Prize, Tate Britain

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