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.
Swaney’s faux-naïf, whimsical works express a childlike vision of the world. Informed by the rough aesthetic and rebellious spirit of Art Brut artists like Jean Dubuffet and the CoBrA group, Swaney’s paintings, collages, drawings, and ceramics have a raw, intuitive feel. Swaney graduated from Capilano University with a BFA in illustration and design in 2000 but considers himself a self-taught artist, aligning his practice with outsider art. He initially worked in Canada as part of the artist collective Five Hands before relocating to Barcelona in 2006. Inspired by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, since moving to Spain, Swaney has also worked with mosaics. His folkloric figures and scenes frequently reference ubiquitous global brands, luxury beauty products, and YouTube videos. Swaney has exhibited internationally since 2004, with solo shows at galleries in Barcelona, Madrid, New York, Berlin, and Miami, among other cities.
Gallery Exhibitions
“Apricot Chakra” PIERMARQ | Sydney, Australia
“Untitled” JVDW | Dusseldorf, Germany
“Jardin de Luz” Delimbo Gallery | Sevilla, Spain
“Four Hands” Steve Turner | Los Angeles, USA
“How Many Paintings in a Roll of Canvas?” NBB Gallery | Berlin, Germany
“Finger Family” Allouche Benias Gallery | Athens, Greece
“Torrential Avalanche Sandwich” BREACH Gallery | Miami, USA
“Peanut Butter & Honey Moon” Sorry We’re Closed | Brussels, Belgium
“Here I am, here I am, how do you do?” L21 | Palma de Mallorca, Spain
“Ongage Lellow” Gryp Gallery | Berlin, Germany
“Papisho” Charlotte Fogh Gallery | Aarhus, Germany
“La Terre Est Bleue Comme Une Orange” Alzueta Gallery | Madrid, Spain
“MAMA, I’M COMING HOME” Tim Arte Contemporaneo | Santiago, Chile
“Plays Well With Others” Freight + Volume | New York, USA
“Paradisio” BREACH Gallery | Miami, USA
“Dream Paper” Galerie Silka | Lyon, France
“Familiar Faces” Mini Galerie | Rotterdam, Netherlands
“NBB III” NBB Gallery | Berlin, Germany
“NBB PAPERWORKS VOL II” NBB Gallery | Berlin, Germany
“Paper” BEERS | London, UK
“CRYSTAL” Delimbo | Seville, Spain
“Now Now” BREACH Gallery | Miami, USA
“Perfect Conditions” Galerie Silka | Lyon, France
“Then and Now” Allouche Benias Gallery | Athens, Greece
“The Edge of Chaos” The News stand Project | Los Angeles, USA
“3 person show” Ever Gold Projects | San Francisco, USA
“As If A Field Could Become Some Dream” No Place | Columbus, OH, USA
“Velvet Ropes GIFC” David Risley Gallery | Copenhagen, Denmark
“In Paper We Trust” The Dot Project | London, UK
“Three-way Ticket” Needles And Pens | San Francisco, USA
2019
Simcor Residency, Los Angeles
2014
CCA Aandratx Residency, Mallorca
2013
Noestudio, Madrid
2008
Fountainhead Residency, Miami