Michelle Weinberg—Painting is visible thought. Between geometry and natural forms.

AN INTERVIEW WITH MICHELLE WEINBERG

A few days ago, we interviewed Michelle Weinberg who already participated in THE LINE DRAWING PROJECT about her work.

Michelle is a Miami and New York based artist.

Where were you born?

I was born in Brooklyn, NY.

Where do you currently live?

I live in Miami and in New York City, divide my time between the two.

Please tell us about your education.

I earned my BFA at School of Visual Arts in NYC, and an MFA at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia.

Do you work with a gallery?

I'm not represented by a gallery, but I enjoy working with galleries. I have a show opening at Dot FiftyOne Gallery in Miami on April 13. I just participated in a show curated by Renee Ricardo in NY. Renee used to have a gallery called ARENA, and now she does independent curatorial projects in varied spaces.

Please tell us about your career highlights.

The mural I painted on the Wolfsonian Museum in Miami Beach in 2014 was a great experience: perfect synchronicity between my work in the studio and the exhibition commemorating the 100 year Anniversary of World War I and Visual Culture.

What inspires you?

The most profound art experiences of my childhood are Matisse, for his spaces structured from color and pattern, and miniature paintings from the ancient near east and India—for the same things! I am inspired by many specialized visual vocabularies and “veneers” that we interact with personally and socially, such as: hand-drawn typography, shopping and commerce, dazzle camouflage, digital game space, theater, curio cabinets, Warner Brothers cartoons, and many more, notes on all these filling my personal archive of more than sixty-five hand-bound drawing books.

Could you please tell us a bit about your concept?

Painting is visible thought. I approach each work or project by setting a stage that coaxes all possible meanings to emerge. I work within my own laws of playful physics, juxtaposing stylized forms, eccentric perspectives, flickering patterns and saturated pastel and hothouse hues. By responding in a personal way to the sublime geometry underlying natural forms, I permit myself to move freely along a continuum between painting and architecture, embracing all scales and mediums. Painting in the studio is where all my projects begin, but I frequently find myself lured beyond the studio into other platforms: Public, collaborative, performative, which are all integrated into my overall vision.

What is your current project and your next goal?

Although painting is where all my projects begin, I frequently find myself in the realms of architecture, theater, decor and applied arts. Currently I'm enjoying learning how to draw with graphite, emptying out color temporarily. Alongside the drawing, I'm working on an ongoing project using papier maché and found objects. It's called Shelf Life, and it's my way of discovering value and meaning in the inundation of useless junk we buy and discard. Next up, more painting. Some on paper, and finally to tackle some large canvases with oil paint. I haven't worked that way in years. I think the drawings are somehow preparatory to that.

What are your thoughts about THE LINE DRAWING PROJECT?

I really love artist initiatives because they are fresh and unencumbered by institutional dos and don'ts. Artists always know the most interesting other artists, and their ideas and they invent new platforms for sharing. THE LINE DRAWING PROJECT is collaborative, and benefits from the immediacy of drawing. I like the relay race format, in which one artist passes the "baton" to the next.

It was a pleasure. Thank you very much, Michelle.

Picture by Maurene Cooper

‘Dining Table Democracy’, 2017

Gouache and rubber stamp on paper

34" x 22"

‘Branded Nature’, 2017

Graphite, colored pencil and rubber stamp on paper

12" x 9"

‘Two Gift Sets—Dazzle and Winning Assortment’, 2018

Cardboard, papier maché and found packages,

38” x 25” x 5” each