Michael Cline's paintings of figures and objects rest somewhere between reality and memory, the surreal and the everyday. Drawing from vivid evocations from different stages of his life, Cline invites his viewers to embark on narrative journeys rooted in faith, familial relationships, the American experiment, and our own suppressed and unrealized dreams. In a series of new paintings, the artist zeroes in on domestic details and overturns the genre of still-lifes to uncover expansiveness in the oft-overlooked. In these unexpectedly cropped paintings, each depicted item, from empty bottles, piles of socks, and houseplants to relics from another era, carries a symbolic weight that may stir nostalgia or unease. For Cline, the focus is not on projecting memories but on capturing an incidental, fleeting moment through painting. Mundane domesticity mysteriously takes center stage as the inanimate steps into the spotlight.
Cline explores forgotten corners and the textures of our daily lives to revel in the stillness of time passing with palpable solitude. He carefully suspends memories, artifacts, and disquietude with care and attention. Once asked about the significance of details in his paintings, Cline replied "it's really just an impulse to render the world in my head with the utmost fidelity."
Michael Cline (b.1973, Cape Canaveral, FL, US; lives and works in New York City, NY, US) studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Cline has presented solo exhibitions with Nino Meir Gallery in Brussels, BE, and Los Angeles, CA; Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago; David Kordansky, Los Angeles; Horton Gallery, New York; Marc Jancou Contemporary, New York; and Daniel Reich Gallery, New York. His works have also been included in group exhibitions organized by the Parrish Art Museum, New York; Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Roma, Rome; Deste Foundation, Athens; David Zwirner, New York; Lehmann Maupin, New York; and Saatchi Gallery, London. Cline’s paintings are included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; François Pinault Foundation, Venice; and the Museum of Old and New Art, Tasmania.
