Theo Michael, born in Thessaloniki, Greece in 1978, currently lives and works in Mexico City. His recent work consists of a combination of drawings, large prints, sculptures made of polyurethane foam and soil, text pieces on bronze plaques and ceramics. The diverse stylistic choices and seemingly incongruent nature of the works reveal that Michael is not interested in providing concrete conceptual frames and ideas, but in working in a blind, impulsive way and letting materials and procedural ´mistakes´ lead him to unknown regions.
Darwinian evolution is driven by random mutations and this is the principle that Michael tries to apply to his practice. To achieve this, he avoids thinking in linguistic terms. Instead he tries to submerge himself in the original primordial spirit of art making, a primitive almost prehistoric idiosyncrasy. As this approach itself constitutes a conceptual approach, a paradox arises, a friction between the attempt to glimpse the sublime and the realization of its impossibility. Thus a coupling of irreconcilable entities takes place, where the rational coexists with the irrational, the sublime with the ridiculous and the religious with the nihilistic. His work is in effect a commentary and critique on the over-intellectualization of the Artworld and its logical almost epistemological discourse. Ultimately the work interrogates conventional ways of thinking about art and raises questions about the essence of meaning and content.
Recent exhibitions include "I DIDN´T THINK OF ANYTHING I DON´T KNOW WHAT TO DO", PRETEEN Gallery, Mexico City, 2013, "1:1", Steve Turner Contemporary, Los Angeles, 2013, "Scholars In Space", OMR Gallery, Mexico City, 2011, "Music For Insomniacs", Proyectos Monclova, Mexico City, 2011, "Smoke From the Edge Of The Known", AMP Gallery, Athens, 2009.
His work has also been presented in "PLAT(T)FORM 2014", Fotomuseum Winterthur, 2014,ReMap, Athens, 2013, "DRAW", Museo De La Ciudad, Mexico City, 2010, "Personal-Political", Thessaloniki Biennale, 2009, "Part Time Punks", DESTE Foundation, Athens, 2007.
He is represented by OMR Gallery.
For additional information about this artist, visit Mutual Art
