Michael Pellew: #1 Under Control World Tour

In Gallery 2

Michael Pellew is a Brooklyn based artist who is known for his humorous ruminations on pop culture and celebrity mash-ups. His inspiration comes from speed-metal, Taylor Swift, Chicago Deep House and reality TV stars. Michael's seemingly simple and succinct drawings use playful line quality and imaginative cultural observations to develop an alternate universe where pop culture is thrown into a blender, giving the viewer random moments that are exuberant, painfully honest, witty and at times, grim. His subject matter is NYC trains and buses, fashion design, "punk funk freaks from the East Village and around the Tri-State area" and pop portraits of favorite singers and performers. Hip fashion retailer Opening Ceremony carries Michael's greeting cards in Manhattan and Los Angeles and his work is in the corporate collections of Citibank, J. Crew, and PAPER Magazine, who has dubbed him their "favorite artist."

An interview (excerpts below) by Matthew Bede Murphy was commissioned by the gallery on the occasion of this show. Murphy is an artist, curator, and founder of LAND Gallery and Studio, a unique nonprofit day habilitation program that teaches life skills through the modality of art. Murphy first met Michael Pellew while recruiting artists for Brooklyn's first art-based day habilitation program. LAND opened its doors in 2005 and continues to be Pellew's primary creative home.