Artist Profile :: Oliver Michaels

15 May 2009

Oliver Michaels

Oliver Michaels' videos and photographs depict uncanny assemblages made of everyday materials from his studio. Using editing devices, Michaels creates "digital bricolage" that is quirky in detail yet visually convincing. The structures and scenarios he makes have a liveliness (sometimes an apparent mind of their own) and randomness, though the stark white backgrounds and balanced compositions impart formal harmony. The befuddling and whimsical images are humorous but also beautiful in their simplicity. They reflect a distorted reality--an imitation of the mechanics of the world. Michaels uses the most basic elements of color, shape, texture, sound and movement to create a sense of wonder in even the most cynical viewer.

Oliver Michaels

Oliver Michaels was born in London 1972, lives and works in Brooklyn. He has had solo exhibitions at Herzliya Museum of Art, Israel; Krefelder Kunstmuseen, Germany; Shoshana Wayne Gallery in Santa Monica, California; Franklin Art Works, Minneapolis; Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia. Selected group exhibitions include ‘Greater New York 2005’ at P.S. 1 in New York; Scenes de Vie at Centre Culturel Suisse in Paris, France; Play! The art of the game, at The Cobra Museum in Amsterdam; Home Sweet Home’ ICA, San Jose, CA. His work is included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and Krefelder Kunstmuseen in Krefeld, Germany, amongst others.

Oliver Michaels, Marching Towards the Sun