Tom Butler

Portland, ME | London, UK

Born in London, Tom Butler (b. 1979) currently splits his time between the UK and Portland, Maine. He studied at Winchester School of Art, Chelsea College of Arts, and The Slade School of Fine Art. Butler’s work has been featured in Two Coats of Paint, The Guardian, Le Monde, The Portland Press Herald, The Maine Arts Journal, Musée Magazine, Aesthetica, iGNANT, GUP, LensCulture, ArtMaze, AnOther Magazine, and Elephant, among many others. He exhibits internationally, and his work can be found in collections such as The British Museum, Soho House, The Caldic Collection, SØR Rusche Collection, The University of Maine Museum of Art, Bates Museum of Art, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, The Maine Museum of Photographic Arts, The Ogunquit Museum of American Art, and private collections around the world.

Over the last twenty years, Butler has appropriated thousands of Victorian and modern found photographs and vintage postcards, created a unique visual language of self-portraiture, built a vast portfolio of drawn images, built an archive of home-made found photographs, and made many sculptural series, all inspired by memory, absence, and the relationship between hiding and performing. Underpinning his work is a simultaneous love and a critique of photography as a whole, particularly in how it relates to identity. The fixed image is something he feels is, despite it being almost two hundred years since the first recorded photograph, a phenomenon we still don’t fully understand.

Selected Works Exhibits Statement CV Press Inquire

Selected Works

Cabinet Room 62
7.5 x 10 inches
Red pencil and ink on paper
2020 [works on paper] — *Cabinet Room 62*
7.5 x 10 inches
Red pencil and ink on paper
2020 [works on paper]

Double Cabinet Room 28
8.5 x 11 inches
Red pencil and ink on paper
2020 [works on paper] — *Double Cabinet Room 28*
8.5 x 11 inches
Red pencil and ink on paper
2020 [works on paper]

Double Cabinet Room 29
8.5 x 11 inches
Red pencil and ink on paper
2020 [works on paper] — *Double Cabinet Room 29*
8.5 x 11 inches
Red pencil and ink on paper
2020 [works on paper]

Room 163
7.5 x 10 inches
Red pencil and ink on paper
2020 [works on paper] — *Room 163*
7.5 x 10 inches
Red pencil and ink on paper
2020 [works on paper]

Room 164
7.5 x 10 inches
Red pencil and ink on paper
2020 [works on paper] — *Room 164*
7.5 x 10 inches
Red pencil and ink on paper
2020 [works on paper]

Room 165
7.5 x 10 inches
Red pencil and ink on paper
2020 [works on paper] — *Room 165*
7.5 x 10 inches
Red pencil and ink on paper
2020 [works on paper]

Bright Corners, 01
90 x 60 inches
Lexjet satin cloth print
2020 [photography] — *Bright Corners, 01*
90 x 60 inches
Lexjet satin cloth print
2020 [photography]

Bright Corners, 02
90 x 60 inches
Lexjet satin cloth print
2020 [photography] — *Bright Corners, 02*
90 x 60 inches
Lexjet satin cloth print
2020 [photography]

Bright Corners, 04
60 x 90 inches
Lexjet satin cloth print
2020 [photography] — *Bright Corners, 04*
60 x 90 inches
Lexjet satin cloth print
2020 [photography]

Cigar Man, c. 1945
11.5 x 9 inches (framed)
Graphite on paper
2021 [works on paper] — *Cigar Man, c. 1945*
11.5 x 9 inches (framed)
Graphite on paper
2021 [works on paper]

She's Looking Right At You, c. 1900
11.5 x 9 inches (framed)
Graphite on paper
2021 [works on paper] — *She's Looking Right At You, c. 1900*
11.5 x 9 inches (framed)
Graphite on paper
2021 [works on paper]

Truth, c. 1950
11.5 x 9 inches (framed)
Graphite on paper
2021 [works on paper] — *Truth, c. 1950*
11.5 x 9 inches (framed)
Graphite on paper
2021 [works on paper]

Head of Buttermere, c. 1965
10 x 7.5 inches
Colored pencil on paper
2021 [works on paper] — *Head of Buttermere, c. 1965*
10 x 7.5 inches
Colored pencil on paper
2021 [works on paper]

The Post Office Tower, London, c. 1980
10 x 7.5 inches
Colored pencil on paper
2021 [works on paper] — *The Post Office Tower, London, c. 1980*
10 x 7.5 inches
Colored pencil on paper
2021 [works on paper]

Abbey Ruins, Glastonbury, c. 1962
7.5 x 10 inches
Colored pencil on paper
2021 [works on paper] — *Abbey Ruins, Glastonbury, c. 1962*
7.5 x 10 inches
Colored pencil on paper
2021 [works on paper]

exhibits

I Became a Room

Tom Butler
August 16 – September 21, 2025 [link:/i-became-a-room]
In Conversation

Josefina Auslender + Tom Butler
September 23 – December 15, 2023 [link:/auslender-butler-in-conversation]
Don’t Show This to Anybody

Tom Butler
August 13 – September 18, 2022 [link:/dont-show-this-to-anybody]

Artist Statement

Rooms

Rooms is an expansive series of pencil and ink and gouache drawings of imagined interiors. Each room — many are inspired by places from my past — comprises of sections of wall and floor, yet none appear complete. Sometimes gaping holes appear. In others, a screen seems to conceal a corner or perhaps a person.

I am fascinated by different forms of interiority, both physically and metaphorically and my rooms are meant to be viewed as poetic spaces. They are infused with thoughts, fears and anxieties and thus these personified spaces often seem to have sinister personalities or macabre senses of humour. They can appear like abandoned department stores or art galleries, empty Victorian homes or forgotten attic spaces but some of the barest and most metaphysical seem stripped to the boards, breaking apart and free floating, speaking more to a wider sense of fragility than specific geographic locations.

This year in particular these rooms have become places to house and organise my thoughts and apprehensions as well as opportunities to re-visit my most treasured artistic locations, physically and emotionally. Yet like so many rooms of our pasts most do not exist anymore having been demolished, rebuilt, or now simply inaccessible due to re-occupancy or moving away — like the now demolished studios of Chelsea College of Art and the studios of Francesca Woodman, which I have only visited through photographs.

Others, having been fictionalised in the first place, never existed at all, so they remain only in my imagination, such as Frankenstein’s creature’s lean-to and the Solaris Space Station. All of which means they are subject to fading, fracture or embellishment.

Cabinet Rooms are pencil and ink drawings from an ongoing series of over one hundred rooms from an imaginary building I call, The Cabinet House.
The title and format is taken from the dimensions of the Victorian Cabinet Card. A form of portrait photograph which was widely available from the 1860s to the early 1900s and one that I have used in my artistic practice for the last decade. These fascinating early photographs are silver albumen prints mounted on card designed for people to display unframed in cabinets in their homes. It is rare to find a Cabinet Card without a figure stood or sat in position which makes ‘empty’ cards particularly haunting, drawing one’s attention to unattended objects or the composition of the interior.
My Cabinet Rooms are meant to be viewed as poetic spaces. They are infused with thoughts, fears and anxieties and often appear to have sinister personalities or macabre senses of humour. They can appear like disused department stores or empty art galleries, abandoned Victorian homes or forgotten attic spaces speaking more to a wider sense of fragility than specific geographic locations.

CV

Born: London, UK | 1979
Resides: Portland, ME & London, UK

2005–2007
M.F.A. Sculpture, Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, UK
2002–2005
B.A. Fine Art, Sculpture, Chelsea College of Art and Design, University of the Arts, London, UK
1997–2000
B.A. History of Art and Design, Winchester School of Art, Southampton University, UK
2016–present
Bowdoin College, Visiting Critic, Maine
2018
University Centre Farnborough, Visiting Lecturer, UK
2016
Maine College of Art, Visiting Lecturer, Maine
2011–2013
The Community Schools at Opportunity Farm and Camden, Art Director and Art Teacher, Maine
2010–2011
The Community School, Art Teacher and assistant to lead teacher, Maine
2010
Maine Media Workshops, TA to John Isaac and Sean Harris, Maine
2025
I Became a Room, Sarah Bouchard Gallery, Woolwich, ME
2022
Don’t Show This to Anybody, Sarah Bouchard Gallery, Woolwich, ME
2019
Pencils of Nature, Fox Talbot Museum, Lacock Abbey, UK
Ensemble, The Eye Sees, Les Rencontre d'Arles, France
2018
Ensemble, Charlie Smith London, UK
2017
Divided Self, Print Sales Gallery, The Photographers' Gallery, London, UK
2016
The Hidden, Ogunquit Museum of American Art, ME
2015
Inhabitants: Parts 1 & 2, Charlie Smith London, UK & VOLTA NY US
2014
ONE HUNDRED MISFITS, FIFTY ONE TOO, Antwerp, Belgium
Inner Worlds, Aucosisco Galleries, Portland, ME
2013
Absentees, Charlie Smith, London, UK
2012
Curio, Charlie Dutton Gallery, London, UK
2011
Aedas Presents: Tom Butler, Aedas Architects, Birmingham, UK
The Grotesques, Susan Maasch Fine Art, Portland, ME
2010
“I don’t know when I’ll be home…” Exeter Phoenix, Devon, UK
2009
Co_respondence, Madame Lillies, London, UK
2021
London Art Fair, Charlie Smith London, UK
2020
Summer Exhibition, Print Sales, The Photographers' Gallery, London, UK
PHOTO LA, Charlie Smith London, UK
PROJECT PAPYROPHILIA, Charlie Smith London, UK
2019
Image, Messums Wiltshire, UK
FLUX III, Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, ME
Thresholds, VOLTA Basel, Charlie Smith London, Switzerland
FLUX, Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells, ME
Quirk, Kathryn Markell Gallery, NYC
ABOUT LOVE, 28 Vignon Street
2018
RCA Secret, Royal College of Art, UK
Photo London 2018, The Photographers’ Gallery, Somerset House, London, UK
Drawing Now Paris 2018, Galerie Heike Strelow, Paris, France
FaceValue2, Jealous East, London, UK
Context: Gallery Artists & Collaborators, Charlie Smith London, UK
2017
Black Mirror: Magic in Art, The Gallery at AUB, UK
Mirror Mirror, Foley Gallery, NYC
In Memoriam – Francesca Lowe, Truman Brewery, London, UK
Unseen Amsterdam, The Photographers' Gallery, The Netherlands
Positions Berlin, Galerie Heike Strelow, Berlin, Germany
Art of the Postcard, Handel Street Projects, London, UK
ANALOG V. DIGITAL, Foley Gallery, NYC
Par VoiX Postale, Museé de la Photographie, Charleroi, Belgium
The Collective, The House of St Barnabas, London, UK
"I was here", Belfast Photo Festival, 2017, Belfast, Ireland
Photo London 2017, The Photographers’ Gallery, Somerset House, London, UK
Creekside Open 2017, selected by Jordan Baseman, APT, London, UK
Seventeen, GALLERY FIFTY ONE, Antwerp, Belgium
AIPAD, The Photographers' Gallery, Pier 94, NYC
Drawing Now Paris 2017, Galerie Heike Strelow, Paris, France
London Art Fair 2017, Charlie Smith London, UK
2016
Paper Works II, Galerie Martin Mertins, Berlin, Germany
Paris Photo 2016, GALLERY FIFTY ONE, Antwerp, Grand Palais, Paris, France
Recent Acquisitions, Ogunquit Museum of American Art, ME
Amsterdam Drawing, Galerie Heike Strelow, The Netherlands
Install 8, Corey Daniels Gallery, Wells ME
The New Figurative, VOLTA12, Charlie Smith London, Basel, Switzerland
Double to Erase, curated by Michael Valinsky and Gabrielle Jensen, SPRING/BREAK Art Show, NYC
Black Paintings, London Art Fair, Charlie Smith London, UK
2015
Paris Photo 2015, GALLERY FIFTY ONE, Antwerp, Grand Palais, Paris, France
Pairings: Selections from Bruce Brown's Photography Collection, CMCA and Dowling Walsh Gallery, Rockland, ME
Show #28: Impossible Geometries, curated by Lauren Haynes, Field Projects, NYC
WISH YOU WERE HERE? Artists’ postcards from Jeremy Cooper's Collection, Hestercombe Gallery, UK
Das Unheimliche, CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, UK
THE WALL, Kit and Ace, The Space Shoreditch, London
VOLTA11, Charlie Smith London, Basel, Switzerland
Metamorphosis, Queen Street Studios, Belfast, Ireland
The Pistil's Waltz, GALLERY FIFTY ONE, Antwerp, Belgium
Photo London, GALLERY FIFTY ONE, Somerset House, London, UK
WISH YOU WERE HERE? Artists’ postcards from Jeremy Cooper's Collection, MAC Birmingham, UK
Art Brussels 2015, GALLERY FIFTY ONE, Antwerp, Belgium
AIPAD 2015, GALLERY FIFTY ONE, Park Avenue Armory NYC
RCA Secret, Art Dubai & Royal College of Art, UK
Die English Kommen! – New Painting from London, Galerie Heike Strelow, Frankfurt, Germany
London Art Fair, Charlie Smith London, UK
2014
Idolatry, Charlie Smith London, UK
Re-unpacking, curated by Andrew Bracey, Nottingham Castle, UK
Paris Photo 2014, GALLERY FIFTY ONE, Antwerp, Grand Palais, Paris, France
THE FUTURE CAN WAIT 2014, Victoria House London, UK
SCRATCH IT, STITCH IT, CUT IT, KEEP IT, Fotogalleriet, Oslo, Norway
Unseen Amsterdam, GALLERY FIFTY ONE I The Photographers' Gallery, The Netherlands
Merge, Castell Photography, Asheville, NC
WISH YOU WERE HERE? Artists’ postcards from Jeremy Cooper's Collection, The Atkinson, Southport, UK
Summer Salon 2014, Aucosisco Galleries, Portland, ME
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2014, RA, UK
VOLTA10, Charlie Smith London, Basel, Switzerland
Regeneration, The Photographers' Gallery, London, UK
Art Brussels 2014, GALLERY FIFTY ONE, Belgium
AIPAD 2014, GALLERY FIFTY ONE, Park Avenue Armory, NYC
Oneself as Another, BoLee Gallery, London, RWA, UK
Historology, London Art Fair, Charlie Smith London, UK
2013
Paris Photo 2013, GALLERY FIFTY ONE, Grand Palais, Paris, France
THE FUTURE CAN WAIT 2013, Victoria House London, UK
Nervous Energy, Tom Butler and Kate Russo, Engine, Biddeford ME, USA
Zeitgeist Open 2013, ZeitgeistArtsProjects, London, UK
The Masks We Wear, Arteco Gallery, London
VOX IX Vox Populi, Philadelphia, PA
Tom Butler, Scott Moore, Kathryn Osgood, New Era Gallery, Vinalhaven, ME
Das Unheimliche, VOLTA09, Charlie Smith London, Basel, Switzerland
Photo & Print Open, selected by John Stezaker, Charlie Dutton Gallery, London, UK
Discernible, ZeitgeistArtsProjects, London, UK
2012
Zeitgeist Open 2012, ZeitgeistArtsProjects, London, UK
La Petite Muerte, Drawers Gallery, London, UK
THE FUTURE CAN WAIT 2012, Victoria House London, UK
CMCA Biennial, Centre for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME
ANTHOLOGY 2012, Charlie Smith London, UK
ZAP Launch Exhibition: Collectible, ZeitgeistArtsProjects, London, UK
2011
Extra-Ordinary: Marion Michell, Tom Butler and Alyson Helyer, Core Gallery, London, UK
artWorks Open 2011, Barbican Arts Group Trust, Blackhorse Lane Studios, London, UK
Photomedia, Charlie Dutton Gallery, London, UK, selected by Geoff Dyer (winner)
Postcards From Paris, Minnie Weisz Studio & Trove Gallery, curated by Charlie Levine, London, UK
2010
Small Works: Gallery Artists, Susan Maasch Fine Art, Portland, ME
Tom Butler and Kate Russo, The Flavel Arts Centre, Dartmouth, Devon, UK
ArtSway Open 2010, Hampshire, UK
Deptford X Core Gallery Open, Core Gallery, London, (Prize Winner), UK
I Am Solitary I Am An Army, Beers Lambert, UK
Ludlow Summer Exhibition 2010, Ludlow, Shropshire, UK
artWorks Open 2010, Barbican Arts Group Trust, Blackhorse Lane Studios, London, UK
Citizen, tactileBOSCH Gallery and Studios, Cardiff, Wales
Worcester Open 2010, Worcester Art Gallery and Museum, Worcester, UK (Selected Artist)
Things Have Changed, Birdwood House Gallery Totnes, Devon, UK
2009
CUBE09, Centre for the Urban Built Environment, Manchester, UK
RWA Open 2009, Royal West Of England Academy, Bristol, UK
Salisbury Open 2009, Salisbury Art Centre, Salisbury, UK
Ludlow Summer Exhibition 2009, Ludlow, Shropshire, UK
2008
Salon 08, Vine Space, London, UK
Alpha, Lewisham Art House, London, UK
2007
M.F.A. Exhibition, Slade School of Fine Art, London, UK
2005
B.A. Exhibition, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, UK
The British Museum
Soho House
Quintessentailly
The Caldic Collection, The Netherlands
SØR Rusche Collection
University of Maine, Museum of Art, ME
Bates Museum of Art, ME
Ogunquit Museum of American Art, ME
Private collections in France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, UK & USA
2018
Elephant Magazine
2017
The Photographers' Gallery
2016
'A History of the Hidden', OMAA, ME
2015
F22/STATE Magazine
ArtLyst
2012
Who Do You Love? CMCA, ME
2012
PechaKucha, Camden Amphitheatre, ME
2011
Core Gallery
GUP #67 - PERFORMANCE
House & Garden
Maine Arts Journal
The Jealous Curator
Aesthetica
MysteryTribune
ArtMaze Magazine Issue 9
iGNANT
Don't Take Pictures
PLAIN Magazine
GUP Magazine
Black Mirror: Magic in Art by Willem de Bruin
Beg Steal & Borrow by Robert Shore
LensCulture
Black Mirror 1
Double or Nothing
Phoebe V. Bradford
Artlyst
Amelia's Magazine
Elephant #21
Financial Times, 'Regeneration' by Jackie Wullschlager
AnOther Magazine
The Altered Cabinet Card
New American Paintings, No. 110
SuperMassiveBlackHole, Issue 13
Bangor Daily News
Maine Home and Design
Marmite Painting Prize Catalogue, 2010
WHITEHOT Magazine
Agency of Unrealised Projects