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Artist Statement
My work focuses primarily on how I am representing my subject rather than the what. Elements which are consistent in my work contain high contrast, loose and expressive brushwork, bright colors, neutral tones, and a sense of linearity. There remains an atmospheric sense of tranquility, the passage of time, and mortality through the harmony yet tension contained within the art. I create cropped scenes with firm compositions of intimate and isolated moments meaning to be contemplative.
The intimate compositions tend to portray interiors. Interiors, especially with staircases, to me represent a sense of time away from nature. Humanity spends much time indoors in shelters either for work, leisure, or rest. In a sense, interiors make up a large portion of identity within our lives. I start off my painting with a linear sketch of magenta oil paint, in order to have the subjects pop out a little more towards the audience. As the painting develops, I experiment with imaginative and expressive colors. The paintings are based on my drawings and sketches, the perspective comes off often as distorted and stylized. Subject matter in the works are derived from my imagination, pieced together from various drawings, or based on references and then distorted, stylized, and reconfigured.
There remains a sense of movement within the painting through linear marks and focused, controlled composed space. The sketchy and painterly application of the paint along with the metaphorical themes help shape the purpose of image-making in contemporary society. Through intuition and improvisation, the drawings and paintings flow freely, without restraint.
Biography
Michael Athanasius Hanna grew up and spent many years in Jersey City, New Jersey and has been drawing and painting since the age of eight. He has exhibited extensively across the United States and has been featured in large exhibition spaces such as the Victoria Gallery in Paterson, New Jersey, 621 Gallery in Tallahassee, Florida, and the Atrium Gallery in Morristown, New Jersey. Notable shows in New York City include a solo exhibit in Chelsea at the Wix Gallery and a one-year exhibit at Hogarth Worldwide in midtown Manhattan. Michael has been published by Saatchi Art, the New York Times, Hartford Courant, Daily Record, Jersey Journal, Ypilson Art, and other publications. His work has been described by curators as a “reinstatement of painting as a force of action and reaction in contemporary society…a restorer, reawakening a painting as if it had long been in a state of slumber”. Michael works out of his historic art studio located in Northern Georgia and has been serving as the curator of Aedra Fine Arts, an online gallery and art publisher, since 2014.
Publications:
Global Art Times. Artist Feature. 4/2023
New York Times – Atrium solo exhibit listed. 12/27/2014.
Critical Review – Dr. Gail Gelburd, Eastern Connecticut State University. 11/2015.
Hartford Courant – Artsmart blog. 2/2015.
Daily Record – Atrium solo exhibit news article. 9/19/2014.
International Contemporary Artists – book feature. November 2014.
Jersey Journal / NJ.com – Curatorial. 3/3/2015.
Jersey Journal / NJ.com – Curatorial. 8/13/2014.
ArtPrideNJ.com – artist of the month. April 2014.
Solo Exhibitions:
Wix Lounge Gallery : Enchanted Physics. Chelsea, Manhattan. NYC. 2015
Victoria Gallery at Art Factory. Art Walk. Paterson, NJ 2015.
Power of Paper: Digital & Drawings. The Barrow Mansion. Jersey City, NJ. 2015
Town Hall of Hanover. Whippany, NJ. Linear Metamorphosis. 2015.
Trolley Car. Jersey City. Sobering Linearity. 2015.
Atrium Gallery. Arts Council of Morristown, NJ. 2014 – 2015.
West Hartford Library. Noah Webster Gallery. Industrial Planes. West Hartford, Ct. 2014-2015.
The Art Factory. Building Bridges. Paterson, NJ. 2014.
Exhibitions:
Close to Home NBAS Oil, Sculpture & Mixed Media. Alfa Art Gallery. New Brunswick, NJ. 2023.
L’Appel Du Vide : Oil Color & Mixed Media Salon. Alfa Art Gallery. New Brunswick, NJ. 2016.
Meaningful. Meaningless. Hogarth Biannual. Park Ave, Manhattan, NYC. 1 year exhibit. 2014-2015
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, Oh My! Monmouth Museum. Lincroft, NJ. 2015.
Eternal Glory. City Hall of Jersey City. 2015.
Cyberpunk. 58 Gallery. Jersey City. 2015.
Artist House (June). Lincoln Inn. Jersey City. 2015.
Essentials. JR Taxation. Avanel, NJ. 2015.
Artist CoffeeHouse. Lincoln Inn. Jersey City. 2015.
Embrace. JR Taxation. Avenel, NJ. 2015.
Jersey Artist Registry: Exhibition #1. The Tides Art Gallery. Hotel Tides. Asbury Park, NJ. 2015.
Little Wonders. LITM Gallery. Jersey City. 2015.
My View. Maxwells. Hoboken, NJ. 2015.
Winter Blues. Maxwells. Hoboken, NJ. 2015.
The Seed. Chashama Gallery. Manhattan, NYC. 2014.
JCAI: Transcendental Downtown. The Park Foundry, Jersey City. 2014.
The Sight of Music. LITM Gallery. Jersey City. 2014.
Two-Person Exhibition. City Hall of Jersey City. 2014.
Raven Art Gallery & Boutique. Jersey City. 2014.
Chimeras. LITM Gallery. Jersey City. 2014.
Fall Grand Salon Show. Greenpoint Gallery. NYC. 2014.
People’s Choice Salon Show. Greenpoint Gallery. NYC. 2014.
Spring Juried Salon Show. Greenpoint Gallery. NYC. 2014.
Spring Grand Salon Show. Greenpoint Gallery. NYC. 2014.
The Collaboration. Nelvis Studios. Elizabeth, NJ. 2014.
