Untitled, 2015

Michael Swaney (b. 1978, Kimberley, British Columbia) is a prolific artist living and working in Barcelona, Spain. For nearly twenty years Swaney has been crafting exuberant paintings, works on paper, ceramics and installations with childlike intensity. Swaney’s formalist style hangs in the balance between baroque and manic, and when paired with his technicolor palette and repeated motifs, the culminating visual universe is expansive and rich. For his subject matter Swaney often refers to pop culture, YouTube and product branding, and interprets the themes as a child might, with innocence and fixation. Toeing a fine line between alienation and invitation, Swaney’s works leap from their surface with frenzied animation.