Cornelia Parker

Cornelia Parker was born in Cheshire, England, in 1956. She studied at the Gloucestershire College of Art & Design and at Wolverhampton Polytechnic before receiving her MA in Fine Art from the University of Reading in 1982.

Parker’s art is about destruction, resurrection and reconfiguration. Demonstrating the importance of process, she frequently transforms objects by using seemingly violent techniques such as shooting, exploding, squashing, cutting and burning. Through these actions she both physically alters the object and she herself becomes an active participant in the development of its story.

In 1997 she was shortlisted for the Turner Prize. In 2010 she was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts, London and appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. Parker was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to the Arts in the Queen’s Jubilee Birthday Honours List 2022. She was the UK’s official Election Artist for the 2017 general election, making several artworks that are now housed in The Parliamentary Art Collection. In 2023 Parker was commissioned by the UK Government Art Collection to create works in response to Coronation of King Charles III.