MIKEL ALATZA
His paintings are portraits of people, some of them famous. With faces contorted in a full-tilt, floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall assault, they literally come off the wall in shards of panels, with an energy that seems barely able to contain itself.
The source of this explosive energy is an artist of tremendous talent, who, like his paintings, has no problem letting his rough edges show. Alatza has been a well-known part of the Venice art scene for the last ten years and has developed a strong and loyal following.
Alatza is also known for his early paintings commissioned by renowned german artist Martin Kippenberger between 1989 and 1990. Kippenberger later manipulated the works with painted frogs and beer bottles and appropriated the works as his own. One of these paintings was recently featured in the retrospective of Kippenberger’s work at LA MOCA. Alatza later photographed the artist for a prospective series of “self-portraits,” but Kippenberger moved back to Europe before these paintings were realized.
SELECTED WORKS