Introduction
I was born just over the Texas border in Eastern New Mexico. I wore cowboy boots, went to rodeos and listened to Marty Robbins.
Shortly after my family moved to California, I spent my teens playing in the Hollywood music scene. I loved creating an aesthetic identity for my bands- I put as much time into making art for flyers and ads as I did rehearsing for shows.
I began screen-printing posters for bands and festivals in my little one car garage. I'm proud of my work for The Hollywood Bowl, The UK based festival "All Tomorrow's Parties," and the legendary LA indie promotion team “Goldenvoice Presents."
My Art Today
In the early 2010’s I moved to the east coast to attend the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA)’s oil painting program.
I developed an artistic language partly inspired by the Thematic Apperception Test -an assessment developed to understand patients by their “responses, in the narratives they make up about ambiguous pictures of people, revealing their underlying motives, concerns, and the way they see the social world“.
My primary intent is for the viewer to contemplate the past, present, and future of the image that is depicted. I also like to incorporate two seemingly disparate scenes into one painting. I’d like the viewer to consider the relationship between the two images and identify a potential conversation. I believe this method of contemplation will lead the viewer to discover a meaningful connection to events which impact humans and other animals. Additionally, I hope the viewer might relate their own experiences of grief, isolation, and despair.
A few of my artistic inspirations are: Justin Mortimer, Adrian Ghenie, Vincent Desiderio, Antonio Lopez Garcia, Rackstraw Downs, Edwin Dickinson, Neo Rauch, Lennart Anderson, Eduard Manet, Edgar Degas, Diego Velasquez and finally, my painting instructor from PAFA, Scott Noel, who taught me what painting “is”.
When not painting, I spend my time riding a motorcycle along the back roads of the Garden State, writing music, hanging with my cats, gardening, restoring my Craftsman bungalow, and going to the beach with my wife Elyse.
Curriculum Vitae: (as Michael Michael Motorcycle)
Solo Exhibitions:
2012 Gallery 309, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2008 All Tomorrow's Parties Gallery, Minehead, United Kingdom
2007 Mr. Musichead Gallery, Los Angeles CA
2007 Valentine’s Day, Standard Hotel Gallery, Los Angeles, California
Select Group Exhibitions/Art Fairs:
2022 Art Fair 14C, Jersey City, New Jersey
2020 Art Fair 14 C, Jersey City, New Jersey
2014 Tiny Trifecta, Cotton Candy Machine, Brooklyn, New York
2013 Tetrachromatic, Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2013 Small Wonders, Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2013, Tiny Trifecta, Cotton Candy Machine, Brooklyn, New York
2013 Semiotic Weapons, Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2013 Perpeteia ll, Skylight Gallery, New York, New York
2013 Gift Wrapped, Clutter Magazine Gallery, Beacon, New York
2013 Allegorical Quartet, Cotton Candy Machine, Brooklyn, New York
2012 Tiny Trifecta, Cotton Candy Machine, Brooklyn, New York
2012 Lucha Libre, Rotofugi, Chicago, Illinois
2011 Tiny Trifecta, Cotton Candy Machine, Brooklyn, New York
2011 Rock It To Me, Cotton Candy Machine, Brooklyn, New York
2011 Friends of the Beast, Oh No Doom, Chicago, Illinois
2011 Autumn Spell, Gallery 309, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2010 Tiny Trifecta, Cotton Candy Machine, Brooklyn, New York
2009 Graphic Beauty, Contemporary Rock Posters , Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, Michigan
2009 Bluestone Rock Art Gallery, Ohio
2007 Pop Surrealism, Oklahoma City Arts Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
2007 Delta Axis, Marshall Arts Exhibition, Agents of Timbre, Memphis, Tennessee
2006 Wootini, Carrboro, North Carolina
2006 Subscreensonic, Brighton Fringe Arts, Brighton, United Kingdom
2006 Kidrobot, Gallery 1988 Los Angeles, California
2006 Gigposter Exhibition, John Galt Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
2005 The MUNNY Show, Rec Center Studio, Los Angeles, California
2005 Munky King, Los Angeles, California
2005 Kidrobot, New York, New York
2005 Graphic Noise Exhibition, Museum of Design Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia
2005 Art of Modern Rock, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, Ohio
2004 Mundo Gigantico del Rock, Roq La Rue, Seattle
2004 Art of Musical Maintenance, Portland Oregon
Published
Rock Poster Art, (Eyrolles, 2013)
Rock Paper Show (Soundscreen Design 2010)
El Fanzine Magazine, (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)
Juxtapoz Back Talk (July 18th 2009)
Gigposters:Volume 1 (Quirk 2009)
Juxtapoz Poster Art (Ginko 2008)
Fine Art Magazine, Rock and Roll Art, (March 2008)
Screenprinting Magazine (Summer 2007)
Redefine Magazine (Winter 2007)
Fleshrot Comics (Frightworld Studios 2007)
Chicago Magazine (May 2007)
Darkening Garden (Payseur and Schmidt 2006)
Swag 2 (Harry Abrams 2005)
Panda Meat (Last Gasp 2005)
Art of Modern Rock (Chronicle, 2004)
Destroy All Monthly Magazine