Mark Vessey is a British photographic artist whose work is inspired by the idea of creating art from collections of everyday objects. He spends his life searching for that elusive edition of a magazine; that one book that will make his collection complete. He explores every facet of them with an intensity that only a collector can. He is relentless pursuit of organisation, of order.

Suitably enough, his ongoing body of work is called Collections. It takes inspiration from Vessey’s love of vintage magazines like The Face and Playboy, as well as groundbreaking contemporary titles like Attitude. Vessey also celebrates one of the enduring icons of the publishing world the Penguin paperback book.

Individually, these publications are a snapshot in time. When put together in physical and photographic form these collections take on new meaning. After all, this is a time when catalogues of books can be held on a Kindle, when ownership of a vast music collection is just a monthly subscription away.

Vessey explains: “My work is about trying to establish a sense of order. There is comfort in collecting things, studying things that people take for granted, grouping every day objects into such a way that they become something special, seeing how they fit together to become a thing of great beauty.”

His work as a photographic artist has been featured in The Guardian, The Telegraph and The Creative Review amongst other publications. Mark’s homage to Kate Moss, depicting the magazine spines of 20 years of British Vogue covers with Kate Moss on the cover, was chosen by St Pancras Editions as one of a series of limited edition artworks to be exhibited at St Pancras Hotel. His donated work has raised thousands of pounds for both the Stonewall and Albert Kennedy Trust charities.

Vessey was born and bred in East London in 1982. Inspired by Nan Goldin, Ryan McGinley and American pop culture and artists such as Keith Haring and Andy Warhol, Vessey studied photography at Brighton University before returning to his native East End. He used to walk London, immersing himself in the city at night, drawn to areas of the city that were loaded with impact and intrigue. His experiences in the city inspired his first body of work, When I’m Out, which features a dreamlike vision of the bars, clubs and streets of gay culture throughout the world.

Vessey has exhibited at: Affordable Art Fair Battersea 2021, SCOPE New York 2020, Affordable Art Fair New York 2019,   Affordable Art Fair Battersea 2019,   Affordable Art Fair Battersea 2018,    Affordable Art Fair Battersea 2017 with Olivia Connelly Gallery, Hang Up Gallery London(2017) and Unruly Home London (2017). Other exhibitions have included Art Below 10th Anniversary in Regents Park Underground Station, (2016), The Old Truman Brewery, (2016) Liberty London pop up show A Tale of Two Cities (June-July 2017), Mark’s work is on permanent display at 29 Power Station West and St Pancras Hotel London, No Walls Gallery in Brighton (Collections, 2012), O Contemporary, London 2008, The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition (Attitude – When I’m Out, 2006).