Michael Price

About

Born Stoke-on-Trent, England. Since 2000, permanent resident in New York.
The Spiritual Nude.
Introduction: Throughout history, the nude, whether male or female, when expressed as a unity of imagination and perception, invariably exhibits a dignity which far removes it from social concepts of nakedness. With each age, the nude whether in painting or sculpture has undergone its own transformation becoming modified and redefined in the process. My personal development and redefinition of the nude focuses on the perception that our corporeality is an extension of a transcendent reality. This relationship between body, spirit and soul has been a theological preponderant for almost two thousand years.
The Real and the Imaginary.
C. G. Jung wrote in Mysterium Coniunctionis (vol. 14 of his collected writings): The existence of a transcendental reality is indeed evident in itself, but is uncommonly difficult for our consciousness to construct intellectual models which would give a graphic description of the reality we have perceived. My insight into this fundamental issue has changed over the years from my dynamic ephemeral figures of the 1980s to my most recent polychromatic nudes which attest this basic precept that the archetypal world inside ourselves is just as real - or imaginary - as the physical world we inhabit.
The Drawings.
Drawing from the live model plays a central role in my working process. The work with each model explores that individual's kinaesthetic awareness through undirected and spontaneous movement. Each drawing session thus becomes a minimalist theater of the imagination. The drawings are quickly executed using bamboo pens, bistre or Chinese ink and wash on paper. The life drawings as well as the study of ancient Greek sculptures essentially inform the paintings in order to explore the parameters of the nude as an archetype.
The Drawing and Painting.
Nearly all my work starts with drawing from the life model or occasionally ancient Greek sculptures. The work explores each model’s kinaesthetic awareness
through spontaneous and undirected movement. Each drawing session thus becomes a minimalist theatre of the imagination. The paintings are developed from this material. My work is an exploration of the nude as the central and fundamental archetype of human existence. The archetype is not a thing in itself, but an experience of the spirit. The paintings focus on the integration of the figure and its dynamic energy field or aura. This sometimes takes on its own abstract form as in the diptychs of the "Chromatic Sequences" or "The Geometry of Light" - like standing in front of a mirror and seeing one's own immortality reflected from the mortal perspective.
The Pigments and Gold Leaf.
The natural and mineral pigments I use not only harmonise with pure gold leaf, but also produce a very different palette of colour and luminosity compared to modern synthetic pigments whether in oil, fir balsam resins, tempera or distemper binding mediums. The pigments include lapis lazuli, azurite, malachite, cinnabar, orpiment, realgar, vivianite, purpurite, red and green jaspers, stibnite, pyrolusite, cerussite, galena, calcite, quartz and Japanese oyster-shell white (Gofun). Other natural pigments include natural indigo, the root madders, cochineal red, and earth and ochre pigments. I have published three papers on mineral pigment preparation and application since 2000.
… Read More

Location: New York, NY, United States
Website: http://www.michaelprice.info

Work

Exhibitions: Since 2008 represented by the Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York

One Person
2010: Alfa Art Gallery, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
2009: Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York. Catalogue
2005: Henry Gregg Gallery, New York
FGS Gallery, Englewood, New Jersey
2003: David Findlay Galleries, New York
2002: Post Gallery, Houston, Texas
2000: Post Gallery, Houston, Texas
1998: Galerie Poller, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Catalogue
1997: Post Gallery, Houston, Texas
1996: Post Gallery, Houston, Texas
1989: Galerie Poller, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Galerie am Theaterplatz, Erlangen, Germany
1988: Galerie Friedrich, Cologne, Germany. Catalogue
1985: Galerie von Braunbehrens, Munich. Catalogue

Group and Museum (selection)
2011: Alfa Art Gallery, New Brunswick, New Jersey
2010: Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York Catalogue
Henry Gregg Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
Alfa Art Gallery, New Brunswick, New Jersey Catalogue
2009: Toronto International Art Fair (Walter Wickiser Gallery)
2008: Walter Wickiser Gallery, New York (four person, “Just the Figure”)
Henry Gregg Gallery, New York
2005: Post Gallery, Houston, Texas, (four person)
2001: Organization of Independent Artists, New York (group)
1996: ‘Paros’, Paron, France. (3 painters & 1 sculptor) Catalogue
‘18th Hollfelder Sommeraustellung’, Bayreuth, Germany (group)
1993: ‘Six International Artists’, Montague Art Galleries Inc., New York
1989: Galerie Friedrich, Cologne, ‘Line-art’ (group)
1988: Galerie Friedrich, Cologne, (group)
1985: ‘Art Cologne’, Galerie von Braunbehrens
1984: ‘Kunst Salon’, Haus der Kunst (Museum of Modern Art), Munich Catalogue
Galerie von Braunbehrens, Munich (group)
1983: ‘Kunst Salon’, Haus der Kunst, Munich Catalogue (group)
Galerie von Braunbehrens, Munich (group)
1982 Galerie von Braunbehrens, Munich (group)
1981: ‘Trends 81’, Mall Galleries, London (group)
‘Drawing Show’, Loggia Gallery, London (group)
‘Kunst Salon’, Haus der Kunst, Munich Catalogue (group)
Galerie von Braunbehrens, Munich (group)

Publications:
Research on the preparation and application of natural and mineral pigments
2007: College Art Association Conference Abstracts 2007:
"The Contemporary Relevance of the Renaissance Palette" pp. 190-192.

2005: 1. "Bunte Götter, Die Farbigkeit antiker Skulptur" - Skulpturhalle Basel,
Switzerland. Exhibition of the recontruction of polychromatic Greek sculpture, 11th
Aug. - 20th Nov. 2005. Catalogue contribution titled:
'The preparation and application of mineral pigments', pp.256-259.

Dutch translation: Kleur! Bij Grieken en Etrusken, prepared for the
Allard Pierson
Museum, Amsterdam.

2. Journal „Artwatch“ UK, No. 20, Summer 2005
‘Blue, bluer, blu-est’, pp. 30-34

2000: „Leonardo“; Journal of the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and
Technology, M.I.T. press.
Title: ‘A Renaissance of Colour, Particle Separation and Preparation of Azurite for
Use in Oil Painting. (Issue 33/4).

Collaboration on Mineral Pigment Research with Institutions and Companies
Since 2008: Doerner Institute, Munich, Germany

2005-2007: 1. Vienna University of Technology, Austria. Binding medium and natural resin
analysis with mineral pigments.
2. Golden Colors Inc. Production of a sample of historical mineral pigments for the
company display.

2003-2007: The Glyptothek, Munich. The preparation and application of mineral pigments with
Greek polychromatic sculptures.

2002-2004: MOMA scientific conservator, C. McGlinchey, New York:
a. Analysis of the purity of my newly developed method for the extraction of lazurite
from the semi precious rock lapis lazuli.
b. X-ray diffraction of prepared mineral pigments and extracted impurities
c. Advanced ageing tests of selected prepared and unprepared natural and mineral
pigments.

2001: Tests with drying oils, essential oils and varnishes on prepared natural and mineral
pigments.

Since 1998: Kremer Pigments, Aichstetten, Germany:
Adaptation of my methods of pigment preparation for the production of azurite. This was
extended to include malachite and cinnabar.

1998: 1. Dr. R. Treichler, Siemens AG, Munich, Germany:
SEM-imaging of azurite particles (for the „Leonardo“ publication).
2. Mr. H. Lezec, Micrion Corporation, Peabody, USA:
FIB-imaging of azurite particles (for the „Leonardo“ publication).

1989-1990: Dr. A. Burmester, Doerner-Institute, Munich, Germany:
Examination of evidence of applied geometrical methods revealed from the infra-red
spectrographic analysis of a Tintoretto painting, the Bamberg „Assumption of the
Virgin Mary“.

Lectures:
‘A Lost World of Colour: The Preparation and Use of Natural and Mineral Pigments in Oil Painting’

2010: Alfa Art Gallery, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
2009: Salgamundi Club, New York.
2007: 1. Colloquium: ‘A Renaissance of Colour’, Doerner Institute, Munich, Germany.
2. Chair Person: College Art Association 95th Annual Conference, NYC
“The Contemporary Relevance of the Renaissance Palette”
Other speakers invited by Michael Price included Michael Skalka,
Washington National Gallery; Dr. Georg Kremer, Kremer Pigments; Shuya Wei, Vienna
University of Technology, Austria.
2005: Henry Gregg Gallery, New York
2002: Luxun Academy of Fine Art, Shenyang, China
Houston Museum of Fine Art, Houston, Texas
2001: ‘Painter’s Forum’, New York. A quarterly symposium on archival materials and
techniques
1999: New York Art Academy, New York
Munich Academy of Art, Germany
1996: School of Fine Art, University of Texas, Austin, Texas

Teaching and Instruction:
Since 2003: Workshops in collaboration with Kremer Pigments, New York:
The properties and preparation of natural and mineral pigments and their application in
tempera, casein, natural resins and oil binding mediums.

2002: Oil painting department of the Luxun Academy of Fine Art, Shenyang,
China.

llustrations, Writing and Poetry
1992: Illustrations published in the English Literary Journal ‘Iron’

1981-1982: Articles on art for the German magazine ‘Anglo American Spotlight’ (now
Spotlight).

1975: Poetry selected and read at the ‘City of Westminster (London) Literary Festival’.

Reviews (selection)
2005: Süddeutsche Zeitung Nr. 184, Munich, Germany
2002: Interview by PBS TV, Houston (broadcast May 2002)
1996: 'Région sénonaise', France
1988: 'Handelsblatt', Germany
1986: 'Stadtillustrierte Nürnberg, Furth, Erlangen', Germany
1985: 'Süddeutscher Zeitung' & 'Abend Zeitung', Munich
1983: 'Abend Zeitung', Munich, Germany
1982: 'Süddeutscher Zeitung', Germany

… Read More

Education

Born: Stoke-on-Trent, England, 1951

Biography
Since 2000 Permanent Residence in New York (U.S. citizen 2010)
1977-1999 Resident in Munich, Germany
1994-1995 6 month residence in Austin, Texas
1991-1992 Regular working visits to the Provence, France
1976-1977 Resident in Rotterdam, Holland

Education
1971-1974: London Central School of Art and Design, B.A. with honours
1969-1971: Stoke-on-Trent College of Art; Pre-degree Foundation Course
… Read More