Native NYC artist Michael Alan is creating worlds and a language ahead of it's time, that will c
“@michaelalanalien strikes again. He’s easily one of my favorite artists in the world”
Cormega
Michael Alan lived and experienced a good, bad, and the ugly life that has occurred in this crazy and constantly changing metropolis, NYC. The artist transformed what he felt, saw and experienced into a massive amount of art. His deep, dense works are other worldly, an escape from earth with a huge taste of a mutating NYC. His work is something that is lacking in our city now. Authentic, raw, yet skillful without the damn sales pitch. There is no ladder climbing, the man is who he is. The work is a reflection of experience, pain, and wisdom.
This city is full of artists moving in and out from around the world to work on their careers. It’s hard to find a native still here grinding. We found a native that won’t give up, a artist that has been born into his role as an observer, activist and chronicler of the wild energy of this city, Alan is a creator that shows insight into the past and the present leaving us with ever changing images that reflect constant change. Michael Alan is a rare entity, wild, trained, and untamed a multi-versed creative force.
Copyright Michael Alan 2019
He was born in Bushwick during the blackout and riots of 1977 and was raised in four of the five boroughs. He grew up all over NYC during a violent and unforgiving period in New York, with a vivid imagination, pen and pad on a endless journey.
Eventually his family was pushed to Staten Island, then he was brought back to Brooklyn. He battled bullies and learned to fight back, and most of all to create a vast language of smart mark making that is so deep and dense it literally is NYC.
His Mother, a formidable influence in his formative years brought him all over NYC where she inspired love for art and culture in him, and brought him to galleries, museums, and artist’s circles, where he absorbed the art scene like a sponge. She and his father encouraged him to draw and he did, relentlessly. He drew them, and everything he could, including art on everything and everyone.
Copyright Michael Alan 2019
As a young man he attended S.V.A. at night, while simultaneously hosting Hip Hop and Rock events in local nightclubs, where he developed a deep connection with peers in NYC street culture. He even D.J.’ed at some of the best clubs in the city. During this time he also turned his attention to the full time practice of making art.
One of the last full time artists still living in New York, he has been practicing since the late 80’s and still represents that unique periods passion. Alan is the logical and emotional heir to the legacy of East Village artists such as Keith Haring, John Michelle Basquiat and his good friend Kenny Scharf. He was a kid too young to be in that scene but saw it all, absorbed it, and has his own vision for his artistic voyage. Many others have moved out or passed away, or just given up. He is one of our last true, well rounded fine artists with a deep background in NYC street art performance and even making music.
He is motivated by a passion for justice, sympathy for victims and a sincere desire for change in the social and emotional matrix of our city, and a nostalgia for the creative environment and "anything goes” energy of our past.
Copyright Michael Alan 2019
Alan is prolifically creative and constantly working, producing drawings, sculptures, prints, and paintings that are far ahead of this time, and yet approachable, engaging and ALIVE. At the same time he conceives elaborate and unique performance art through his Living Installation project, that has been ongoing for 20 years. He also creates his own music,with the help of some famous friends such as The Residents, Tommy Ramone, Ariel Pink, Jello Biafra from Dead Kennedys and Renaldo from Renaldo and the Loaf. Let’s not forget his partner, his lovely lady Jadda Cat. A true tale of lovers that meet and paint each other into clowns for life. If that weren’t enough he is also working on a film called “Art Family” that he calls a dark, tragic, comedic character study based on real events. View that on www.michaelalanart.com/thelivinginstallation
Copyright Michael Alan 2019
What Alan does mostly is make life changing drawings and paintings. He does this with a single minded intensity and drive, often not sleeping and working 24 hour days. In his process he filters his perception of reality through his tools onto paper, wood, canvas, anything! The lines flow out, responding to his thoughts in synergistic waves. The results are masterful, intricate pieces that pulse with their own life and logic. The linking element between Alan’s more representational work and his pure abstractions is his line work, and his definitive eye balls in each work. Oceans, castles, cats and flowers Floating, defining, accenting, or in some cases entirely everything is composing and decomposing in a drawing. His line work is unmistakeable, and unique to Alan.
Alan’s studio in BK is a tiny gem that is packed, floor to ceiling with art. The overall effect is overwhelming. The artist has made six to seven thousand pieces, and each piece demands scrutiny, an individual world that lures you in and rewards you with a masterful symphony of delicate lines and colors. It’s honestly insane. Alan is an artist that needs to be deeply studied to grasp, not just looked at or collected. The worlds he generates are beyond this world. Words on paper will never explain the complexity of Michael Alan
Copyright Michael Alan 2019
I worry about art now. Can we grow as a people without artists like Michael Alan in our time of a declining civilization? We need a vision that is new, and rare and real, without the same “buy now”tricks. Without authentic vision we are stuck with bad Pop, Slop Art, or tired retreads of the same old, same old.
We need fresh visions, or our culture will not rise and things will fizzle out.
To see more of Michael Alan’s art go to his Instagram @michaelalanalien, as he posts constantly, or see his website www.michaelalanart.com and his team page @thelivinginstallation for information on his upcoming movie.