MICH.0002.jpg)
MICH.0001.jpg)
Alan Michael’s paintings explore the dynamic of cultural image transaction and artistic lineage. Borrowing his subject matter from both art historical and media sources, Michael’s large-scale canvases magnify their appropriated imagery; rendered with a cold, almost mechanical aesthetic, his paintings resonate with a sense of the uncanny, making the familiar seem alien and inured. Through his interwoven referencing, Michael adapts the ideologies associated with various art historical movements to highlight his subjects as hierarchical emblems, situated within, and co-opted by, often conflicting power structures. Untitled (Shoes), for example, is formatted in repetitive panels, reminiscent of Warhol’s pop. Retaining faithfulness to the original photographic sources with a limited grey-scale palette, Michael’s footwear both allures with the glamour of early 20th c. advertising and the style of Russian agitprop. Similar strategies are found throughout Michael’s paintings, which readily mingle 80s fashion, Soviet propaganda, minimalism, and pop. In this careful layering of signifiers, Michael develops his own lexicon which both decodes and furnishes cultural anxiety. Through their sterile aesthetic, Michael’s paintings isolate symbolic fragments of contemporary experience, rendering their meaning as bereft, corrupted, and infinitely seductive.
Thank you for your enquiry!
Your message was sent and one of our Admin team will respond as soon as possible.
If you have an urgent question, please call our front desk on 020 7811 3070.
For more information on how we store and use your data please view our privacy policy here. You can unsubscribe from our newsletters at any time by clicking on the links below the emails we send you.
MICH.0002.jpg)
MICH.0001.jpg)
