Michael Haykin
Michael Haykin was born and educated in Munich, Germany, while his family was in military service for the United States.
In addition to his annual one and two person shows at galleries, Haykin's work has been shown at the Holter Museum of Fine Art in Helena, Montana; The Montana Artists' Refuge in Basin, Montana; Helander Gallery in Palm Beach; the Works Gallery in Southampton, NY and the Limbo Gallery in New York City. He has also previously exhibited with Holly Solomon Gallery in New York City.
"Michael Haykin is one of the most refreshing and compelling realist painters working today. Whether it's in his heroic scaled multi-paneled compositions, or his smaller easel-sized paintings, Michael's veiled atmospheric perspective creates a mosaic of form and color -- elevating the artist's portraits and everyday scenes of landscapes into a surreal, dream-like world of soft personal expression. Haykin's aesthetic is perfectly matched to his ambition as a painter of the West, and I've observed that his canvases appeal to lovers of contemporary abstraction as well as those whose inclinations tilt toward traditional realism. On the surface the work appears to be straight forward and representational, but on closer examination one finds the paintings filled with images drawn from explorations of the artist's internal narrative and personal mythology. I am very excited that Michael has relocated from Key West to Tucson and will be adding his enormous talent to the collective artistic genius of our region."
Robert E. Knight, Executive Director, Tucson Museum of Art
Artist's Statement
"I am a painter of realism, whose interest in observing the changing moment provides the structure for my work. While my paintings are composed with formal considerations, the focus is on the changing nature of a landscape or a figure. The surface of a painting is built of micro-layers of pigment allowing light and atmosphere to subtly shift, giving the image a shimmering translucency. It is as if the objects in my work provide a backdrop against which I am painting the air."
In addition to his annual one and two person shows at galleries, Haykin's work has been shown at the Holter Museum of Fine Art in Helena, Montana; The Montana Artists' Refuge in Basin, Montana; Helander Gallery in Palm Beach; the Works Gallery in Southampton, NY and the Limbo Gallery in New York City. He has also previously exhibited with Holly Solomon Gallery in New York City.
"Michael Haykin is one of the most refreshing and compelling realist painters working today. Whether it's in his heroic scaled multi-paneled compositions, or his smaller easel-sized paintings, Michael's veiled atmospheric perspective creates a mosaic of form and color -- elevating the artist's portraits and everyday scenes of landscapes into a surreal, dream-like world of soft personal expression. Haykin's aesthetic is perfectly matched to his ambition as a painter of the West, and I've observed that his canvases appeal to lovers of contemporary abstraction as well as those whose inclinations tilt toward traditional realism. On the surface the work appears to be straight forward and representational, but on closer examination one finds the paintings filled with images drawn from explorations of the artist's internal narrative and personal mythology. I am very excited that Michael has relocated from Key West to Tucson and will be adding his enormous talent to the collective artistic genius of our region."
Robert E. Knight, Executive Director, Tucson Museum of Art
Artist's Statement
"I am a painter of realism, whose interest in observing the changing moment provides the structure for my work. While my paintings are composed with formal considerations, the focus is on the changing nature of a landscape or a figure. The surface of a painting is built of micro-layers of pigment allowing light and atmosphere to subtly shift, giving the image a shimmering translucency. It is as if the objects in my work provide a backdrop against which I am painting the air."
