neotericart

Neoteric Art: Give us a little history on yourself including time spent at art school.

Michael Fitts: I received my BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond Va. in 1989 where I studied graphic design. I started painting a few years after I graduated partly as a by-product of being dissatisfied with the graphic design field. In graphic design where you have clients involved, which is all the time, you must satisfy your clients wants and you become subject to their taste, even when it’s bad. That was difficult fro me to live with on a continuing basis. In painting, I can do what ever I want without having to make concessions to someone else. I still do a lot of graphic design work and I’ve found a happy balance between the two careers.

NA: You say you do a lot of graphic design work. Do you approach your graphic design work the same way as your painting? Also, you’ve found a happy balance between the two careers…do you combine the careers (how you market yourself, etc.) or keep them separate?

MF: The approach to my paintings is very similar to way I approach a design project. In design I want to avoid adding elements that are extraneous to the overall composition. Use only what is necessary to communicate an idea and things are clear. My paintings are similar in that I want them to be minimal and direct to the essence of the idea and void of narrative elements. For me, the elimination of the narrative has a funny way of stopping time. The idea that here is this object with no clues has to why it’s there, who put it there and how long it will stay there. It just becomes the “thing” itself and the focus remains there with no hidden agenda.

As for marketing, I do use my skills as a graphic designer, although less now than when I first started showing my paintings. When I only showed locally in coffee shops, I had to design all of my postcards and accompanying graphics for a show. Now the galleries do all of the promotional graphics. I like that because I get to see how others interpret my art and translate that into the marketing of an exhibit.

Occasionally I can blur the lines between the graphic design and the painting when I get the opportunity to illustrate for an article but for the most part the two remain separate. I don’t think anyone could make a visual connection between the paintings and the design work.

NA: You’ve been painting on scrap metal for years. What were some of the reasons for using scrap metal in the first place and why do you still continue to use it?

MF: The fascination for metal started in art school when I was wondering the streets of Richmond Virginia looking for materials to use in collages that I was doing at the time. I was finding these little pieces of metal on the ground and in the street that were so beautiful in color and texture and I just began collecting them and including them in collage pieces. The idea for using sheet metal for canvas stems from not having much money to spend on materials such as canvas. I found a great piece of sheet metal that my neighbor was tossing out with his trash. I retrieved that piece and have been wrapping metal canvases and painting on them ever since. Plus, conventional canvas always intimidated me. Canvas being this clean, white, pure surface that I was sure I would fuck up. With the metal, the damage was already done with dents, rust and discoloration. As an artist, this made the metal beautiful yet approachable. The main reason that I keep going back to the metal is that it’s always random and surprising. I never know what I will find and that keeps it fresh. I enjoy the collaboration that takes place with what I can add to something that has inherent beauty and interest.

NA: Discuss your overall work/thought processes when starting a new painting.

MF: I try to let the process just happen. The more I stay out of the way the better. I just try to stay open minded to ideas. When the ideas aren’t coming, I just build panel after panel and put them in a place where I have to look at them everyday. Eventually the ideas pop up. Some ideas are good and some not so good. If need be, I will let a metal canvas sit for a long while before I decide what to paint on it. If the precess is forced I think it shows.

NA: How did you become affiliated with Gallery KH in Chicago?

MF: Gallery KH approached me shortly after the Affordable Art Fair in New York in 2008 where I was showing with Fraser Gallery out of Bethesda Maryland. I took a look at there website and like the professionalism that they conveyed. I was also impressed by the stable of artists they have. They represent a lot of very talented people.

NA: Who and/or what has influenced your work?

MF: As for who, I’m not sure exactly. I think it’s a bit of a stew of artists who work and personalities that I admire, some famous and some not so famous. As for what, I’d say that I’ve always been able to focus or find interest in seemingly insignificant things. I’m fascinated by garbage and ephemeral objects. Those things that get used and are quickly discarded and forgotten. There may be some psychological reason for the interest but I don’t really care what that is.

NA: Concerning your painting career, where would you like to be ten years from now?

MF: I have no idea and try not to think about it. I think all artists fantasize about being famous whether they admit it or not. I just want to let things happen, take advantage of opportunities and every thing will be cool.

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