CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 11/19/2019

Michael Kagan & Bill Powers in Conversation at New York Academy of Art

Tuesday, November 19 at 6:30 PM, the New York Academy of Art presents painter Michael Kagan in conversation with gallerist and critic Bill Powers, in celebration of Kagan's new monograph, I Was There When It Happened, published by Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art. The conversation will be accompanied by a visual presentation and followed by a Q&A and a book signing.

Growing up in Virginia Beach near the first NASA field center, Michael Kagan (born 1980) learned early in life to look toward the sky for inspiration. Now based in Brooklyn, the artist uses historical images from the NASA archives as source material for his paintings of rockets blasting off into the atmosphere and astronauts touching down on lunar landscapes. Heavily textured with precise strokes of oil paint, Kagan’s work brings a sense of tactile closeness to the otherworldly subject matter without sacrificing its awe-inspiring mystery. This clothbound accompaniment to Kagan’s solo exhibition, I Was There When It Happened presents a wide selection of the artist’s paintings from the past decade, almost exclusively dedicated to space imagery. In addition to a foreword by collaborator and fellow Virginia Beach native Pharrell Williams, the book includes extensive contributions by Alison Byrne, Matthew Israel, and Bill Powers.

Michael Kagan holds an MFA from New York Academy of Art (2005), where he was awarded a postgraduate fellowship (2005–6). He has collaborated multiple times with Pharrell Williams and Mr. Williams’ company, Billionaire Boys Club. He has also created a series of commissions based on the archives from the Smithsonian Institution. His artwork was used as the cover of the White Lies’ album Big TV. The album cover was listed on multiple lists of the top covers of the year and won the 2013 Best Art Vinyl award. Solo exhibitions include I Was There When It Happened (2019-20) at Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art; We Have Felt the Ground Shake (2018) at Bill Brady Gallery, Miami, FL; Lights Out (2016) and Thunder in the Distance (2014), both at Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, NY; and I Am My Father’s Son (2012) at Space SBH, St Barthélemy, French West Indies. Selected group exhibitions include Mission to Space, Children’s Museum of the Arts (2016–17); Your Favorite Artist’s Favorite Artist, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, NY (2014); Shake the Dust Off, Allegra LaViola Gallery, New York, NY (2012); and Growing Pains at Charles de Jonghe, Brussels, Belgium (2010).

Bill Powers owns Half Gallery in New York. He is the author of several books, including What We Lose in Flowers … (Karma, 2012) and Interviews with Artists (Gagosian, 2013). His writing has appeared in the New York Times, GQ Style, Purple Fashion and the Wall Street Journal.

Michael Kagan & Bill Powers in Conversation
Tuesday, November 19: 6:30 PM
New York Academy of Art
111 Franklin Street
New York, NY 10013