Alan Michael

Alan Michael - HIGH ART
Maintaining a highly labor-reflexive practice for decades, Alan Michael has situated the language of (photorealist) painting at the intersection of art and socioeconomics.

In doing so, he has identified the genre as precisely consummate of not only the subjects and bodies he realizes (that of the working class) but also of the complex relationship between contemporary painting, late-capitalist culture, virtuosity and labor. Focusing on specific modes of representation and reference, beyond the demonstrative, Michael has specified an altogether idiosyncratic body of work. One that implausibly reanimates the spectres of painting, appropriation and materialism.

Alan Michael was born in 1967 in Glasgow, Scotland. He currently lives and works in London, England. Recent solo and duo exhibitions include: Halle fur Kunst, Lüneburg, Germany; Cell Projects, London, England; Jan Kaps, Cologne, Germany; Zero, Milan, Italy; Tramway, Glasgow, Scotland; Artists Institute, New York, USA; Tate Britain, London, England. Group exhibitions include: Galerie Francesca Pia, Zürich, Switzerland; Neuer Essener Kunstverein (NEK), Essen, Germany; Kunstraum Kesselhaus, Bamberg, Germany; Arcadia Missa, London, England; Aram Art Gallery, Gyong Cultural Foundation, South Korea; Limeric City Gallery of arts, Scotland; Bonington Gallery, Nottingham, England; Dio Horia, Mykonos, Greece; CAC, Vilnius, Lithuania; Gregor Staiger, Zurich, Switzerland; Micky Schubert, Berlin, Germany; Notthingham Contemporary, England; Cubitt, London, England; Fiorucci Art Foundation, Stromboli, Italy.

Selected Works

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Exhibitions

Press

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Curriculum Vitæ

Alan Michael - HIGH ART
b. 1967 in Glasgow, Scotland
Lives and works in London, England

SOLO AND DUO EXHIBITIONS

2023
Would You Rather (Billboard project), Terminal, London, United Kingdom
Friendly Street, Jan Kaps, Cologne, Germany
2022
Matchmakers, Jenny’s, New York, USA
2021
Playlife, Halle fur Kunst, Lüneburg, Germany
Wonder Workers, High Art, Paris, France
2019
Stars of The Source, 3236rls, London, United Kingdom
2018
Astrology and the City, Cell Projects, London, United Kingdom
People Puzzle, Jan Kaps Gallery, Cologne, Germany
(a) Orality; or, a general assembly on a delay, Jan Caps Gallery, Cologne, Germany
2015
About a Work #9, Zero, Milan, Italy
2014
Syn, Tramway, Glasgow, Scotland
P.A, Vilma Gold, London, United Kingdom
2013
Calvinistic Girls, High Art, Paris, France
Note to Self (with Lucy McKenzie), Artists Institute, New York, USA
The Manual xx, 0HI0, Glasgow, Scotland
2012
Back to the Docks, Marc Jancou Contemporary, New York, USA
2011
Res Gestae, David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Golden Turtle, Siakos Hanappe, Athens, Greece
2010
Silhouette Formulas, HOTEL, London, United Kingdom
2009
In a Rotterdam Cell, Galerie Micky Schubert, Berlin, Germany
2008
It’s A British Sound, Schürmann Berlin, Germany
Ritual In The Dark (with Stephen Sutcliffe), HOTEL, London, United Kingdom
Mood: Casual, Art Now: Tate Britain, London, United Kingdom
Touch Void, Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
2007
Decamp, David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Space to Squabble, Galerie Micky Schubert, Berlin, Germany
2005
Stuart/Shave, Modern Art, London, United Kingdom
The Invention of Birth Control, Sorcha Dallas, Glasgow, Scotland
2003
Burlesque Schematic, HOTEL, London, United Kingdom
2002
Alan Michael, Entwistle, London, United Kingdom
2000
Damage (with works by William Copley), Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland
1999
Glasgow Project Room, Glasgow, Scotland
You Are Very Important (with Alex Frost), Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023
Slow Dance (3), Stadtgalerie, Bern, Switzerland
2021
This City Is, Galerie Francesca Pia, Zürich, Switzerland
2020
Eight works from 2013, 2019, 2009, 1998, 2019, 2003, 2018, 1998, Wschód, Warsaw, Poland
Sphinx of black Quartz – Judge my Vow, Palfrey Gallery, London, United Kingdom
well, well, well…, Sundy, London, United Kingdom
Soft View/ Privatissime, Neuer Essener Kunstverein (NEK), Essen, Germany
The Vapours, Kunstraum Kesselhaus, Bamberg, Germany
2019
A Person Who is Recording Cannot Intervene, Arcadia Missa, London, United Kingdom
2017
The painting show, Aram Art Gallery, Gyonag Cultural Foundation, South Korea
Pharmacy for Idiots, Rob Tufnell, Koln, Germany
The Painting Show, Limerick City Gallery of Arts, Scotland
All Men by Nature Decide to Know, Bonington Gallery, Nottingham, United Kingdom
2016
honey;love;pheromones, Dio Horia, Mykonos, Greece
Dead Ends, 1001, 44th Street, New York USA,
The Painting Show, CAC, Vilnius, Lithuania
2015
Integration, Galerie Gregor Staiger, Zurich, Switzerland
Oeuvre Sans Valeur a Vendre Cher, Stems, Brussels, Belgium
Group Show, Galerie Micky Schubert, Berlin, Germany
2014
Somewhat Abstract: Selection from the Arts Council Collection, Nottingham Contemporary, United Kingdom
2013
Attachments & Assignations, Cubitt, London, United Kingdom
Does The It Fit?, Circa Projects, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, United Kingdom
All Masters at the Swing Door, ReMap, Athens
Evil Under The Sun, Fiorucci Art Foundation, Stromboli, Italy
2012
The Irregular Correct, FAC Freemantle, Australia. PDA Curtain Showroom, Glasgow, Scotland
Construct, Mary Mary, Glasgow, Scotland
Spelling the Image, Marc Jancou Contemporary, New York, USA
2011
Space Oddity, CCA Andratx, Mallorca, Spain
2010
BigMinis: Fetishes of Crisis, CAPC, Museum of Contemporary Art, Bordeaux, France
New Life, 1005 Argyle St, Glasgow, Scotland
Real Estate, Galleria Zero, Milan, Itay
Woodman, Woodman, Spare That Tree, Galerie Micky Schubert, Berlin, Germany
Little Magazine, Studio Warehouse, Glasgow, Scotland
2009
Depression, Marres Centre for Contemporary Culture, Maastricht, Germany
Why Painting Now?, Blondeau Fine Art Services, Geneva, Switzerland
The Associates, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, Scotland
White Wallet, Gaudel de Stampa, Paris, France
2008
Sphinxx, Stuart Shave / Modern Art, London, United Kingdom
r e p ’ e . t ’ t i o n, Sorcha Dallas, Glasgow, Scotland
Studio Voltaire Portfolio 2008, Studio Voltaire, London, United Kingdom
Legend, Domain Chamarande, Paris, France
Ritual In The Dark, Hotel, London, United Kingdom
2007
Stuff: International Contemporary Art from the Collection of Burt Aaron, Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit, USA
‘Gallery Swap: HOTEL at Guido W. Baudach’, Guido W. Baudach Galerie, Berlin, Germany
2006
Faces, Blondeau Fine Art Services, Geneva, Switzerland
If it Didn’t Exist You’d Have to Invent It: A Partial Showroom History, The Showroom, London, United Kingdom
The Figs Play Fox Dead, David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Tate Triennial 2006: New British Art, Tate Britain, London, United Kingdom
2004
The Fee of Angels, Man in the Holocene, London, United Kingdom
Eye of The Needle, Roberts & Tilton Gallery, Los Angeles, United Kingdom
Year Zero, Northern Gallery of Contemporary Art, Sunderland, United Kingdom
Souvenir, HOTEL, London, United Kingdom
Gertcha, Michael Wilkinson’s, Glasgow, Scotland
Synth, Kunstraum B/2, Leipzig, Germany
Haute Street, Galerie Diana Stigter, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2003
The Moment of Fiction, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee, Scotland
Put Out More Flags, Sutton Lane, London, United Kingdom
This has reached the limit conditions of its own rhetoric, The Modern Institute, Glasgow, Scotland
Dirk Bell, Kate Davis, Alan Michael, The Changing Room, Stirling, Scotland
2002
Alan Michael, Vangelis Vlahos, Els Hanappe Underground, Athens, Greece
Jean-Luc Blanc, Alan Michael, Galerie Giti Nourbakhsch, Berlin, Germany
Half the World Away, Halls Walls CCA, Buffalo, USA
2001
Here And Now: Scottish Art 1990-2001, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, Scotland
Antarctica, Entwistle, London, United Kingdom
Angel Dust, Intermedia, Glasgow, Scotland
Brown Field, Market, Glasgow, Scotland
2000
Panache, Els Hanappe Underground, Athens, Greece
John, I’m Only Dancing, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
Die Gefahr Im Jazz, Deutsch Britische Freundschaft, Berlin, Germany
Focus on the Fear, On Destruction, Power, Death, Venetia Kapernekas Fine Art Inc. New York, USA
Sweet Dreams, Exedra, Hilversum, Netherlands
1999
White Bear ZZ, 78 Roslea Drive, Glasgow, Scotland
Shake The Disease, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee, Scotland
Horseriding, Painting and Lovemaking, Deutsch Britische Freundschaft, London, United Kingdom
1998
Mountain Madness, Glasgow Project Room, Scotland
Slipstream, Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow, Scotland
Family Credit, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
Add Night to Night, Showroom, London, United Kingdom
Crystal State, Three Month Gallery, Liverpool, and installation at Longsight Benefit Office, Manchester, United Kingdom
Toga, Assembly Gallery, Glasgow School of Art, Scotland
1997
Olympic Village, Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland
Tutor With An Idea, Three Month Gallery, Liverpool, United Kingdom
Suburban Affair, Newport-on-Tay, Fife, United Kingdom
1996
Harthill, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland

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