Michael Reafsnyder

Though Michael Reafsnyder's exuberant paintings and sculptures appear spontaneous and immediate, they are in fact the result of a methodical and calculated process: the artist drips, smears, and scrapes boldly colored paint on canvas and molds clay by hand into undulating glazed slabs. Orchestrating myriad vivid hues and textures, he entrances viewers with the vibrancy of his compositions, regardless of medium. While his work recalls both Abstract Expressionism and the European avant-garde movement CoBrA, Reafsnyder is ultimately concerned with expressing a sense of playfulness and joy—a recurring motif in his paintings is a subtle smiley face made from paint squeezed directly from the tube.

Born in California in 1969, Reafsnyder received his Bachelor of Arts degree in studio art at Chapman University in Orange, CA in 1992 and his Master of Fine Arts degree at the Arts Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA in 1996. He has had numerous exhibitions nationally and internationally, including recent solo exhibitions at Los Angeles Projects in California, Marty Walker Gallery in Dallas, and Galeria Marta Cervera in Spain. His work is currently included in the permanent collections Harvard University and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, among others.