PATTERNS & SUCH
A solo exhibition by Mike Pavol
Exhibition Runs: June 28 - july 23
About the exhibition:
PATTERNS & SUCH is a solo exhibition by Mike Pavol. Since his last exhibition at Da Vinci Art Alliance in 2019, a lot has changed in the world which has effected Pavol’s work in ways both subtle and immeasurable. This exhibition showcases Pavol’s new tactic of changing scales and repeating images. Primarily through the use of shrink plastic, or “shrinky dink”, he manipulates the shape and scale of each fragment that makes up his large scale artworks. As an ongoing development of his acrylic painted portraiture, this new body of work emphasizes pattern and repetition. Placing process and learning first, he presents this exhibition which is in an ever-evolving body of work.
The exhibition will be on view in Gallery 1 at Da Vinci Art Alliance from June 28 - July 23 with an opening reception on Saturday, July 1st from 4-7pm.
About the artist:
Mike Pavol came to Philadelphia from Phoenix AZ in 1988 with a head full of Modernism (BA Arch., Va Tech 1986), punk rock, and youthful stabs at art— all of which barely co-habitated. While taking night classed at Fleischer and PAFA, he fell under the influence of Chris Lafuente, and her enthusiastic pursuit of observation and paint. Pavol plunged in, enjoying the challenge and direction, though slightly concerned with where it all was headed. In 2002, a show of Edwin Dickinson’s work and the variety of routes he explored provided the nudge Pavol needed to include all of his concerns and ideas as a painter, designer, and person.
“Letting the leftovers and the unintended be as important as the target, prompted by a brief meeting with John Cage, began to leach into my perception and work. Less was I an automaton that channeled unedited visual information (former ideal) and more was I a guy making decisions and choices on how and what to paint.”
Mike Pavol became less concerned with displaying a cohesive artistic philosophy or perceived consistency, and more with using his experience, intuition, and curiosity to give a direction, while the internal logic and rules of the individual painting provide boundaries and limits, that can be respected or violated.