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Artist Michael Alan is a native New Yorker. He is a force of an artist. I discovered his work via social media. It is fascinating and something that you don’t see every day. It is art and work that you can tell he put his heart and soul into. Michael took the time to do an interview with Horrornews.net and he shared some of his incredible art with us.
Hi Michael, please tell us how you got started in art?
Michael- I drew my way through life, watching people get annihilated, ducking bullets, being attacked and learning how to survive. Drawing for me was a way of talking. I didn’t really understand and maybe I still don’t understand people’s motivations. I came from a house where my mom wrote a book called The Adventures of the Buzzaboo and Mrs. Poo. I came from a world where there was extreme love and creativity in a cesspool of some really horrible destructive stuff “harmonious opposites”. My mom was a writer and a social worker. My aunt was unreal. She was a nun. My father RIP was a collector of Dali but didn’t speak much about art. He made sure the house wasn’t burglarized. We were robbed 6 times in a year. I was thrown into the world around me. I wasn’t exposed to kids before that, due to health issues. The first day of school I got punched down a flight of steps. I found out being different wasn’t an easy thing in NYC. The people’s painted idea of this city is a place to go if you’re a freak or different but being raised in the late 70s early 80s, art took over and boxing! I had a best friend brother then, graffiti artist named ODIN (RIP) who I could talk art with but other than that there was no one. Drawing wasn’t a coping device, instead it was just what I did. I was the guy who drew stuff, the class clown.
I found it to be a struggle to be positive because everyone around me was negative. So, I was the guy who drew everything all the time and that’s what I was known for. As I got older, people respected that. It worked out naturally. Don’t force things.
My work is about mixing various different speeds, styles, techniques within my palate. And sometimes they all happen on one page, on one painting or in one album. It’s about the cross-pollination of all these different experiences. My work has to do with the concept of time. What happens if I use a drawing from 8th grade, with a drawing I did today with a collage piece I did a year ago. I love the ability to mash many moments into one.
Has anyone or anything inspired you?
Michael- People who really really are excited about what they’re doing and are excited about life. This is what makes life continue.
Work ethic is an inspiration. Through working every day, I reinvestigate some of the visual discoveries that took place in the studio. Exploring different techniques, visuals and ideas about existence. I have to study the works to see how they’re put together, some more than others. There are color patterns, choices, mixing of random materials that I constantly discover new ways to create a picture. The goal every day is to just get one level higher beyond what I already knew.
Last years I randomly met my new bud Norman Reedus in an art show we were both in, Art Walk for Coalition for the Homeless. We donated work to help the homeless. I found him to be a raw wild soul. He just puts it out there with his acting, photos, and voice. There are many fake people out there, but he is a true person. He lives to live. That’s the shit I like. I can’t stand the plastic world. It makes no sense to me.
What can you tell us about the Living Installation?
Michael- It’s not so much what I can say, or anyone, it’s an experience. It is hours and hours of endless everything. I would say it’s like trying to explain what a feeling that no one else has is. It makes it a hard “business” but it’s not a business so the non-explanation is fun. What i can say is the Living Installation is a 20-year running insane surreal ongoing NYC PUNK FUNK SPUNK wild fire! Check the latest one out online
www.michaelalanart.com/thelivinginstallation
What would you say to the people who support the work you do?
Michael- The goal is the continuation of life. If there is a continuation of humanity, it’s through watching people do amazing things. I’d like to keep growing as an individual and be a living example of creating an unexplainable space that makes people want to be more optimistic and more productive and to continue the conversation, create dialogues, worlds and visions. As humans we can do more than we think we can. I’d like to demonstrate this while I’m here. I want to see everyone do as much good as they can. It’s a quest. It’s not a job. I am honored. Having the ability to create is a gift and should be shared.
I want people to really see a part of themselves within a work. I like readable parts with non-readable parts with swirling worlds taped under 7 years of work. I want people to be able to step in it at any time and hold onto something that has nothing to do with me. Anyone can view work and grab onto something that is larger than me and larger than them. Because they are looking at everything.
Who are some of your favorite artists?
Michael- Jadda Cat for president she is everything
My mom she is art
My friend Michael Rapaport is the best comedian going and really trying his ass off to make things happen online
My cat Pirate, she is a vocalist
Nickels
My man Slash FTR
My dude Amuze is really at it
Shane West is a great music dude and actor check out that germ’s movie nuts!
Is there somewhere you would love to see the work you do on display?
Michael- Children’s hospitals, places of true need around the globe, as many fundraisers that are not for one person’s store etc., real places of need that can inspire minds.
Do you have a favorite piece so far, or do they all mean something different to you?
Michael- I make many not into favorites, every day changes. Just like my work. Free-dumb
Where can the work be purchased?
Michael-
http://www.michaelalanart.com/2016site/general-pricing-for-michael-alan-artworks/
Gregory manager
People can also support the Living Installation project and view our films.
Www.michaelalanart.com/thelivinginstallation
Select Galleries have works available also upon email request
http://www.michaelalanart.com/2016site/about-statement/biography/
Michael’s Instagram – michaelalanalien
