MICHAEL PORTER COAST AND COUNTRY
22nd August to 16th September 2026
CONTEMPORARY
GALLERY
MICHAEL PORTER COAST AND COUNTRY 22nd August to 16th September 2026
Michael Porter’s new collection of studio works is inspired by Cornwall’s coast path and moorland. Having lived and worked in Derbyshire and later London, Michael settled in West Cornwall in 1997 and now occupies a large studio on Newlyn quayside that was once a working fish cellar. Wherever he has lived, Michael’s creative focus has remained firmly on exploring and interpreting the beauty of the landscape that surrounds him.
CONTEMPORARY
GALLERY
‘Seashore Series 29-06-14’ Oil and Acrylic on Paper on Canvas 110.5cm x 120cm £15,000
‘Coastal Path Series 05-02-11’ Oil and Acrylic on Paper A: 38cm x 41cm | F 59cm x 62cm £2,500
‘Coastal Path Series 06-02-11’ Oil and Acrylic on Paper A: 38cm x 40cm | F: 59cm x 61cm £2,500
‘Coastal Path Series 02-02-04’ Oil and Acrylic on Paper A: 39cm x 44cm | F: 57.5cm x 62.5cm £2,250
“The objects that I find in a place, that define a place, that’s what fascinates me - those things, together with my memory of a place gathered over many years.” Michael’s practice concentrates on extraordinary visual interpretations of the natural world. His artworks are drawn from the overlooked but intriguing minutiae of our environment, from a single pebble embedded in the ground, to an autumn leaf drifting across a body of water, to a tangle of twigs and branches against the gathering dusk.
‘Coastal Path Series 26-04-08’ Oil and Acrylic on Paper A: 39cm x 42cm | F: 60cm x 63cm £2,500
‘Coastal Path Series 12-06-06’ Oil and Acrylic on Paper A: 38cm x 44cm | F: 58.5cm x 64.5cm £2,500
‘Coastal Path Series 23-10-06’ Oil and Acrylic on Paper A: 35cm x 40cm | F: 55cm x 65.5cm £2,500
‘Coastal Path Series 08-09-12’ Oil and Acrylic on Paper A: 38cm x 42cm | F: 58.5cm x 65cm £2,500
‘Cornish Stones Series 10-04-20’
‘Cornish Stones 19-08-22’
Oil and Acrylic on Paper A: 35cm x 42cm | F: 50cm x 59cm £1,750
Oil and Acrylic on Paper on Canvas 110.5cm x 120cm £15,000
“I like the idea of taking something ordinary and showing people that if you look closely, there is beauty in it.” Michael’s intense engagement with the details of the landscape draws on locations that are familiar to him. Having worked from his studio in Newlyn for thirty years, he spends much of his time walking Cornwall’s moors and coast path, taking photographs and collecting natural ephemera as source material for his studio paintings.
‘Cornish Stones Series 11-06-26’
‘Cornish Stones 19-08-14’
Oil and Acrylic on Paper A: 22.5cm x 26cm | F: 44cm x 48cm £1,750
Oil and Acrylic on Paper on Canvas 110.5cm x 120cm £15,000
‘Cornish Stones Series 28-01-05’ Oil and Acrylic on Paper A: 26cm x 32cm | F: 44.5cm x 51.5cm £1,750
‘Cornish Stones Series 04-12-14’ Oil and Acrylic on Paper on Canvas 110.5cm x 120cm £15,000
“I am a painter who works from reality. I do not make photographic representations of a place, I make paintings that express that place, but I always begin with something specific from the landscape.” His technical proficiency and his experimental approach to building the image have made him one of the UK’s most respected artists. Michael builds layers upon layer in his work using different materials, letting acrylic, watercolour and wet oil paint merge freely so that they repel each other before settling and finding their own balance.
‘Cornish Stones Series 04-11-06’
Seashore Series 02-12-14’
Oil and Acrylic on Paper A: 35cm x 42cm | F: 55cm x 62.5cm £2,500
Oil and Acrylic on Paper on Canvas 110cm x 120cm £15,000
‘Seashore Series 18-01-10’
‘Seashore Series 10-01-14’
Oil and Acrylic on Paper A: 41.5cm x 45cm | F: 61.5cm x 65.5cm £2,850
Oil and Acrylic on Paper on Canvas 100.5cm x 110.5cm £15,000
‘Seashore Series 29-08-10’
‘Seashore Series 25-01-10’
Oil and Acrylic on Paper on Canvas 110cm x 120cm £15,000
Oil and Acrylic on Paper A: 29cm x 32cm | F: 47.5cm x 50cm £2,000
“There are layers to all my work, because layering reflects the actuality of being in nature. When you walk through a landscape you see one thing beyond another thing, and another beyond that. That’s what my paintings are about.” Michael was raised in the rugged landscape of Derbyshire and went on to study at Nottingham College of Art, Derby College of Art, and Chelsea School of Art. He became a Fellow of Gloucestershire College of Art in 1973 and has received awards including the National Gallery Artist-in-Residence Award, the London University Lorne Award, the RWA Odin Award, an Honorary Doctorate from Derby University, and an Honorary Fellowship of University College Falmouth.
‘Seashore Series 25-04-22’
‘Seashore Series 28-11-17’
Oil and Acrylic on Paper A: 48cm x 50cm | F: 68.5cm x 70cm £2,750
Oil and Acrylic on Paper on Canvas 134cm x 111cm £15,000
‘Seashore Series 19-04-10’
‘Seashore Series 20-04-10’
Oil and Acrylic on Paper on Canvas 110.5cm x 120cm £15,000
Oil and Acrylic on Paper A: 36cm x 40cm | F: 56.5cm x 61.5cm £2,500
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CONTEMPORARY
GALLERY
The Pa ra de, Polze ath, Cornwall, PL2 7 6 SR www.wwcg.co.uk | 01208 869301 | art@wwcg.co.uk @WhitewaterPolz