When Michael Carson got his first job out of college as a graphic designer, he had no plans to become a painter. “I was more of a computer guy,” he says. Then one day he walked into a gallery and something changed. “It affected me enough that I decided to try painting.” Within a few months, he had quit his job and was making a go of painting full time.
His works will be featured in an upcoming solo show at Bonner David Galleries, opening May 19 with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m.
“There’s a certain familiarity to Michael Carson’s work. He spends time observing people; he’s looking at how their arms are crossed or how their weight is focused on one leg. He pays attention to how one’s shirt wrinkles when seated, or what shadows fall on one’s face,” says Rebecca Rosenfeld, director of Bonner David New York. “It’s something we as viewers know because we have seen it in our daily lives. We are pulled in because the subject matter is relatable, and we can’t look away because Carson manages to make the familiar look romantic.”
Many of the works featured in this show were inspired by a trip Carson recently took to Italy.
“While I was there, I took a lot of really cool photographs of bars and clubs,” he explains. He was struck by how the modern interior design of the spaces was juxtaposed against old architecture. When he entered a bar called the Companion, he was immediately reminded of Wes Anderson’s directorial aesthetic and pulled out his camera. “It was empty when I photographed it, so when I got home, I went through all the photos to find an angle that I liked and started adding in people. I really wanted it to feel like a Wes Anderson film.”
Carson notes the scale of his paintings is getting larger. “While I was over in Florence, I got to see all these classical pieces, and they’re huge,” he says. “I think that may be why I’ve unconsciously started working on these bigger paintings.”
Also featured will be a painting titled Pause, which depicts a woman sitting in a chair in a bare room. Carson sees this kind of painting as an opportunity to layer in complexity. “I’ll paint almost the entire thing in one sitting, then after it dries, I’ll come back and make changes,” he says. “The effect is almost a quasitranslucency where you can really see the layers.”
The Bonner David show runs through June 4 and will also feature Carson’s sculptures and handmade guitars.
