Biography and Artist's Statement

Michael Mercier was born in Kansas, raised in Texas
and stopped by Atlanta on the way to Columbus, Ohio
pursuing his career as a creative director. He worked for
a number of retail and advertising firms – including,
for a dozen years, his own.

Success proving burdensome, he decided
to follow his dream, and put himself to work as a painter.

Working with acrylic paint, diluted and brushed in layers
to achieve flatness, MM shuffles principles of cubism
with poses and idealised subject matter of renaissance painters,
plus the bright colors of comics and advertising graphics
to arrive at an observation of the complexities
and contradictions in our own environment.

Or working with mixed media, MM examines and interrogates
textures and differences in texture and color to create abstractions
with surprising emotional impact.

In some degree, each piece he creates is about opposites –
inside/outside, positive/negative, intimacy/networking,
personal/virtual.