Background
Payne was born in Merthyr Tydfil and raised on the town"s Gurnos estate during the mid-1970s until the early 1990s.
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Michael Payne
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Education
During 1993–1996, he studied at Cheltenham School of Art, where he gained a First Class Bachelor Honors degree in fine art painting.
Career
He paints primarily in oils and is influenced by mythological themes within a contemporary context. During his early exhibiting career he was known as Michael Payne, before he began using his full name. Since late 2012 he has dropped his first name and now uses the shorter Gustavius Payne.
During his time at Cheltenham, Payne was granted a place on the European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students programme at the Athens School of Fine Arts.
Recent work has drawn reference to Welsh culture, globalisation and expolitation. His 2011 joint exhibition with poet Mike Jenkins used a common political theme, with the traditional coal miners" canary as a symbol of exploitation of the "little guy", as well as the exploitation of nature.
His work is also held in other collections including the Museum of Modern Art Wales" Tabernacle Collection and the Cheltenham & Gloucester building society. He was elected into The Welsh Group in 2013.
Notable exhibitions
2013, The Cause and Effect Hypothesis, Art Central, Barry, Wales.
2012, New Work, Ffin-y-Parc, Llanrwst, Wales. 2011 – 2012, Dim Gobaith Caneri, Cyfarthfa Castle (Merthyr Tydfil), Museum of Modern Art Wales, Washington Gallery (Penarth) and West Wales Arts Centre. (An Arts Council of Wales project across Wales, in collaboration with poet Mike Jenkins).
2010, Master Strokes, (with Clive Hicks-Jenkins, Kevin Sinott and 4 other artists), Museum of Modern Art Wales, Wales.
2008, Welsh Myth, Washington Gallery, Wales. 2004, Nature or Nurture, West Wales Arts Centre, Fishguard, Wales.
2001, Dreams, Fairy Tales, Myths & Nightmares, Washington Gallery, Penarth, Wales.
Achievements
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During 1991–1993, he attended the Mid Glamorgan Centre of Art & Design Technology, Pontypridd, where he won the Student of The Year Award at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, prompting the British Broadcasting Corporation arts programme The Slate to include an article about the artist on their Eisteddfod Special in 1993, shown initially on BBC1 Wales and also, shortly after throughout the United Kingdom, on BBC2. Upon completion of his degree at Cheltenham he won the Cheltenham & Gloucester Building Society"s Art Purchase Prize, before returning to Wales to live initially in Cardiff, then later in Dowlais.
Politics
Similar ecological and socialist themes can also be seen in more recent exhibitions together with his painting "Our Very Own Eco-System" held in the University of South Wales collection, and his cover illustration for Red Poets #19 magazine.
