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Michael Kagan

Michael Kagan is a Brooklyn-based artist known for producing oil paintings with large, expressive brush strokes. Kagan explores the physical and emotional journey that accompanies explorers from mountaineers to astronauts. His dramatic paintings depict humans pushing the limits of nature through physical stamina and technology. Michael uses thick, deliberate brush strokes that convey a decisive hand and the power of his subject matter. Kagan believes a painting is perfect “when it can fall apart or it can come back together depending on how you read the image and also how close you are.”

Born in 1980 in Virginia Beach, Michael Kagan received his BA from The George Washington University and MFA from New York Academy of Art, where he also completed a postgraduate fellowship in 2005. Special projects include a commission from The Smithsonian, two apparel collaborations with Pharrell Williams, and album cover artwork for The White Lies album Big TV, which won an Art Vinyl award for Best Art Vinyl in 2013. He recently had a solo exhibition at Virginia MOCA, Virginia Beach, VA, USA (2019/2020).

Kagan’s work is in the collections of the Hall Collection, Reading, VT, USA; Maezawa Collection, Chiba, Japan; Maki Collection, Tokyo, Japan; Gemini Trust Company, New York, NY, USA; Fidelity Investments Corporate Contemporary Art Collection, Boston, MA, USA; Founders Fund, San Francisco, CA, USA; and Jacob & Co., New York, NY, USA among others. He has been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions worldwide. A recent monograph of his work was released in 2019 by ARTBOOK | DAP.

  • Biography

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  • Bibliography

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Selected artworks

  • Michael Kagan,                                      Deep Field, 2025

    Michael Kagan Deep Field, 2025

    Oil on linen
    50.8 x 61 cm
    20 x 24 in

  • Michael Kagan,                                      Concorde, 2025

    Michael Kagan Concorde, 2025

    Oil on linen
    182.9 x 137.2 cm
    72 x 54 in

  • Michael Kagan,                                      Kiss the Moon, 2025

    Michael Kagan Kiss the Moon, 2025

    Oil on linen
    121.9 x 91.4 cm
    48 x 36 in

  • Michael Kagan,                                      The Mexican Minister of Defense, 2024

    Michael Kagan The Mexican Minister of Defense, 2024

    Oil on linen
    76.2 x 50.8 cm
    30 x 20 in

  • Michael Kagan,                                      ​​​​​​​Cernan (Blue), 2022

    Michael Kagan ​​​​​​​Cernan (Blue), 2022

    Edition of 5 + 2AP
    Painted aluminum with silver nitrate visor
    118.11 x 62.23 x 63.5 cm
    46 1/2 x 24 1/2 x 25 in

  • Michael Kagan,                                      Moonwalker (12.14.1972), 2023

    Michael Kagan Moonwalker (12.14.1972), 2023

    Oil on linen

    61 x 61 cm
    24 x 24 in

  • Moonwalker (11.20.1969), 2023

    Moonwalker (11.20.1969), 2023

    Oil on linen

    61 x 61 cm
    24 x 24 in

Selected press