Michael James O'Brien

Michael James OBrien received the M.F.A from Yale University where he studied in the early 1970s with Walker Evans. He was associate professor of photography at Kenyon College in Ohio and taught at the New School in New York City in the mid-80sHis work has been commissioned by magazines such as The New Yorker, Departures, The Face, Rolling Stone, Financial Times, Io Donna, Elle Dcor, The New York Times, LUomo Vogue, Travel&Leisure, Zoo, CondeNast Traveller and by advertising clients including Illy Caffe, Penhaligons London, LArtisan Parfumeur, Longchamp, Piazza Sempione, Bergdorf Goodman, Thierry Mugler, Polo Ralph Lauren, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nautica. He is currentlyContributing Editor of Departures.In 1993 he began a collaboration with Matthew Barney, producing all of Barneys still photographs and creating a photographic parallel to his Drawing Restraint 7, Cremaster 1, 2, 4, 5. These works have been exhibited at the Musee Moderne in Paris from October 2002-January 2003; at the Guggenheim New York in 2003 and throughout the world.

An accomplished and published poet, OBrien has been editor-at-large of the print and on-line poetry fanzine Verbal Abuse since its inception in 1993. He has read at Jackie 60, Cabaret Magique, The Nuyorican in New York and The Groucho Club in London.From 1997 2002 he was an owner of the restaurant/bar Chez EsSaada in New York.His book of photographs, Girlfriend: Men, Women and Drag, was published in 1999 by Random House.Most recently his work was shown in November 2006 at Hermes New York in a solo exhibition and in group shows in Santiago de Compostella in November 2007 and in artphotoexpo at Art Miami/Basel in December 2007. Most recent solo show Joyce Gallery Beijing June 2012.