Untitled, 2021

Adi Michael  

Adi Michael (1980) is a multidisciplinary painter, sculptor, designer and artist. Lives and works in Petah Tikva.

His artistic language combines expressive styles of pop art, kitsch and socialism.

The line of his works is clean and precise, the aesthetics draws characteristics from the world of design and consumer culture and finds expression within the artistic format of his works.

Adi is the “self-taught philosopher”, similar to the field of experimental science born of “self-taught philosophers” by trial and error and out of curiosity for discovery and passion, knowledge and inquiry, so did Adi. At the age of 9, as part of a craft lesson, he learned that with the help of various ratio mixes of miracle coffee and water, it is possible to draw an entire painting with shades, light and shadow. It was a magical moment for him, so he understood and accepted the premise that “anything is possible.”

Adi’s journey that began at age 5 with a painting of cultural heroes that copied from children’s play cards, moved to posters of beloved cultural figures and rolled into an obsessive painting of skulls on clothes, the painting never stopped and later became graphic design, creative and art.

Adi’s artistic style, which draws on pop art, kitsch and surrealism, draws on perfection at the level of aesthetic line and meticulous color, crosses ages and manages to communicate with a wide audience.

A first look at the works of Adi Michael Smile. The heart and head are in aesthetic harmony. The second or third look contains messages and criticism that aim to provoke food for thought, these are Adi’s inner struggles: as someone who loves passion products and even worships them and emerges from his works, so does his personal fashion appearance and style. In the face of this Adi asks questions about consumption, capitalism, extravagance, adoration for publicity, celebrity and wealth, he asks questions about identity and loss of values in the face of his inner desire to appropriate the same passions, to break high, to be part, he wants to inspire change from within, teach to dream and that anything is possible.

Adi’s attraction ranges from drawing and creating characters from children’s and play worlds, comic books, cultural heroes and beloved icons for whom they are a symbol of a utopian world, dreams and fulfillment, fantasy, the tension between reality and imagination and a capitalist world of which everyone including himself is a part.

Alongside pop art themes, the world of music and rock have established the image of the skulls in his works, in any size, shape, material and color. Adi’s skull, unlike the artistic tradition, does not refer to death and the end, but strives for truth, strives for foundation and heart, devoid of masks and defenses, it is the pattern from which everything begins, from which life can be produced and through its structure pure truth is reflected. The body of work of the image of the skull is also made of poppy and intense language, precise and seductive.

Adi Michael creates out of passion, the world around him, the web we navigate and the objects around him evoke thoughts. Once thoughts of an object that can become works of art arise in his mind and he feels chills, his home has become a studio and he can spend days and nights until the end of the final work, a meditative and ecstatic creative process.

The format and technique of the works varies and ranges from monumental and hyper-large works to a very small to miniature format,

Adi is attracted to things that are exaggerated in size, the exaggeration is seductive, a deviation from the familiar pattern catches the eye and arouses the desire to possess a thing. A sculpture of a 2-meter-high brush or an accurate and framed gold-framed drawing of a 3-cm skull, a painting with a Louis Vuitton suitcase combined with a sculpted and gold-plated three-dimensional handle, or a polymer sculpture of Minnie Mouse, one of his favorite figures. The sleek finishes and artistic configuration of the works evoke sympathy and manage to sweep many to observe and connect to the works, alongside this the message is always there for those who want to look deeper, attentively.

Adi’s world of inspiration and influences ranges from music, nature, Japanese culture, ancient Egypt and the world of typography to pop artists like Kit Herring, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, alongside the classic Michelangelo with the pursuit of perfection or Van Gogh thanks to his bold color and courage to shed color.

Witness as its name implies, a jewel, attracted to beauty and quality, uncompromising and striving for truth, knowledge and freedom to create motifs that are expressed in his works and through them comes the desire to connect to the beauty and ambivalence of life, defiant, and unlike blind love to ask questions about his happiness and popular culture.