STATEMENT
The Cold War was the political and social touchstone of my youth. At that time, a popular show on television, “I Led Three Lives,” had a protagonist, an ordinary family man, who held a secret position as an FBI agent. Working undercover as a Communist cell operative, he glamorized the stark polarities of our conflicted times. In school, we were taught cold war political objectives, the capitalist manifesto and Christian ideology. We memorized the names of political leaders, and read scholastic magazines outlining capitalism’s perspectives on the oppressed people of foreign countries. The Cuban Missile Crisis defined the Sixties. For weeks, it seemed the world stood on edge. In school we were drilled in the response for nuclear attack to “duck and cover” at the flash of blinding light. The area I lived in, Southeast Los Angeles, was a community born of the defense industry – we would be the first to Armageddon. North American Rockwell, McDonnell Douglas, Boeing and TRW were the defense industry companies that supported our families, fed our schools and dominated our rhetoric. We built bomb shelters in our backyards. Cold War fear and paranoia was our reality.
The political activism of the 1960’s coincided with my art education and overall consciousness of a world negotiating a new paradigm of Western style capitalism voraciously eclipsing alternative political, social and economic modes, while the Cold War shifted into the labs to develop ever greater cataclysmic threats.
It may appear unusual to equate Minimalist theory with political consciousness, but for me they are inextricable and form the parameters of my life and practice as an artist. Minimalism provoked us to rely on our own perception. This applied to our conception of the relationship of an object to a particular space and greater still, how this perception was a springboard to ideas beyond the object and its immediate surrounding, and referred to the world at large. Minimalism asked us to consider how we see, how we think and how we react.
The symbology of the 1950’s was embedded in my consciousness early on and remains relevant today. Industrial refuse, the excess of Cold War industry are included in my art materials. I also look to science and astronomy, the infinitesimally small and infinitely large to seek connections that bind us together in spirit if not ideology.
Iconic visual images have frozen decisive moments in history and etched them into our collective public consciousness. With time, our perception of them, our memories and the historical record merge. These images morph with both the clarity of a flashback and the contradictions of witness testimony, generational ambiguity and historical revisionism. My recent works sample from these iconic images to become a series of artworks entitled The Day The Earth Stood Still, TDTESS. The Trinity atomic blast, Cold War, Camelot era, moon landing, senseless wars, geopolitical and social unrest, terrorism – from the sublime to the ridiculous – inform my drawings, sculptures and installations. With this lexicon of signs and symbols I’ve forged a personal narrative that invites interpretation and hopefully initiates a dialog of connection and familiarity.
EXHIBITIONS
SOLO EXHIBITIONS/Installations: (Partial Listing)
2017 “Rings”, Izen Miller Gallery, Rancho Mirage, CA
2015 “The Day the Earth Stood Still, TDTESS”, College of the Canyons Art Gallery, Santa Clarita, CA
2014 “No Place To Hide”, El Camino College Art Gallery, Torrance, CA
2010 Sylvia White Gallery, Ventura, CA 2006
Peggy Zask Gallery, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
2006 “Progress”, Grand Central Art Gallery, Santa Ana, CA, Catalog
“Progress Videos-1979 & 2005, Urban, Rotterdam, Netherlands
1999 Heritage Park Sculpture Garden, Santa Fe Springs,Ca
"Castillo", Mission Trail, San Antonio, TX
1997 North Hollywood Police Station, CA
1996 The Big Clock, Nieman Marcus, Philadelphia, PA
1995 “Z.E.P.H.E.R.,” Site- Specific Installation, DART, Irving, Texas
Koplin Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1992 The Works Gallery South, Costa Mesa, CA
1991 “Atom and Eve,” Rancho Santiago College, Santa Ana, CA
1990 The Works Gallery, Long Beach, CA
1989 Karl Bornstein Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1988 “New Works,” The Works Gallery, Long Beach, CA
Laguna Art Museum, site-specific installation and selected works, Laguna Beach, CA
Grand Promenade, co-designed twenty-five story building, Los Angeles, CA
California State Univ.,Long Beach site specific installation, Long Beach, CA
“Torches,” Union Federal Savings, site-specific installation, Brea, CA
1986 Roy Boyd Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1985 Bruce Velick Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1984 Roy Boyd Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1983 “Michael Davis: Sculpture Survey 1973 - 1983,” Santa Rosa College, CA
1982 Roy Boyd Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Roy Boyd Gallery, Chicago, IL
1981 McIntosh/Drysdale Gallery, Washington, DC
1980 Space Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
California State University, Los Angeles, CA
Gallery U, Nagoya, Japan
Baxter Art Gallery, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA , catalog
1979 University of California, Santa Barbara, CA
1978 Space Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Installation, Federal Building, Los Angeles, CA
1977 Santa Ana College, Santa Ana, CA
1975 Jack Glenn Gallery, Corona Del Mar, CA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2015 "Far Sited", University Art Museum, California State University Long Beach, CA
"Oasis", Stuart Haaga Gallery, Descanso Gardens, La Canada Flintridge, CA
"Body of Water", El Camino College Art Gallery, Torrance, CA
2014 “Summer Show”, Stone Rose Gallery, Long Beach, CA
2013 “Washed Up”, El Camino College Art Gallery, Torrance, CA
2012 PSST: Art in San Pedro 2010-2012, Warschaw Gallery, San Pedro, CA
2010 Collecting California, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna, CA
Melting Point, El Camino College, Torrance,CA
2008 Space Exhibition, California State University, Pomona, CA
2007 Haus Guest, The Brewery, Los Angeles, CA
2004 “Art and Justice”, City Space, Seattle, WA.
“Live Work:Skyline Street”, Center for Architecture, New York, NY
2002 “The Big Frame II”, Sarasota Season of Sculpture, Sarasota, FL.
2000 "It's About Time," Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA
"Connecting the Past: A Celebration of the CSU, Fullerton Sculpture Collection"
1998 "Pierwalk '98," Navy Pier, Chicago, IL
LA group show, the gallery at Herman Miller Showroom, Los Angeles, CA
1997 “Public Art Metro Dade”-Contemporary Art Museum, Miami
“Pier Walk”-Navy Pier, Chicago, IL
"Unbuilt So. California”, Guggenheim Gallery, Chapman University, Orange, CA
"Forms of Abstraction" Deanna Miller Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1996 “On & Off the Wall”, exhibition of contemporary sculpture, Riverside Art Museum, CA
1995 “From Warhol to Baule: Unexpected Selections from the University Art Museum Collection,” UC Santa Barbara, CA
“Selections from the Permanent Collection,” Rockford Art Museum, IL
“The Anamorph”, Site- Specific Installation, with Ann Preston & Richard Turner, Anaheim
1993 “Project Box,” in conjunction with the Los Angeles International Art Fair
“Site Pacific/Site Specific,” Marymount College, San Pedro, CA
1992 “From the Studio: Recent Painting and Sculpture from 20 California Artists” The Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA(Catalog)
1991 “Contemporary Artists: Artists II,” Contemporary Artists Services, Los Angeles, CA
1990 “The Armory Show,” Pasadena, CA
1989 “The Traveling Show: Art Influenced By Transportation,” Muckenthaler Cultural Center, Fullerton, CA
“San Pedro Abstracts,” The FHP Hippodrome Gallery, Long Beach, CA
“The Private Works of Public Artists,” Gallery at the Plaza, Security Pacific Corporation, Los Angeles, CA
1987 The Works Gallery, Long Beach, CA
“Art on the Medium,” West Hollywood, CA
1986 “The Column Show: Metaphor and Motif,” Fisher Gallery, USC, Los Angeles, CA
1985 “Artists Look at Architecture,” Transamerica Tower, San Francisco, CA
“Monuments To,” California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
“Sculpture,” Roy Boyd Gallery, Chicago, IL
“2nd International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition,” The University of Hawaii, Art Gallery, Jan-Mar, University of Oklahoma Museum of Art, Apr-May, Victoria Regional Museum Association, Jun-July, Tyler Museum of Art, Texas, Aug-Sep, University of Alabama Art Gallery, Oct, San Diego State University, Nov-Dec
“58F Plaza: A Time Remembered,” CSU, Fullerton Art Gallery, Fullerton, CA
1984 “Olympic Project Exhibition,” Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
“Olympic Project Exhibition,” Design Center, Los Angeles, CA
“Five Sculptural Artists,” FINE Arts Gallery, Cerriots College, Norwalk, CA
“Urban Sculpture,” Security Pacific Plaza, Security Pacific Bank, Los Angeles, CA
1983 “Construction/Urban Images/Correspondence Works,” San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, CA
“Series Two,” Gensler and Associates, San Francisco, CA
1982 “Forgotten Dimension,” Fresno Arts Center, Fresno, CA, National Traveling Exhibition
“Sculpture 1982,” Sonoma State University, in conjunction with the 12th Annual International Sculpture Conference, Oakland, CA
“Interior/Exterior,” Walker Associate, Los Angeles, CA
“Selections from the Collection of Security Pacific National Bank,” Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Park, Los Angeles, CA
“Mayor Burne’s Mile of Sculpture,” Chicago International Art Exposition,Chicago, IL (catalog)
1981 “Artist as Architect/Architect as Artist,” Ohio State University
“National Sculpture Invitational,” Visual Arts Center of Alaska
“Architectural Attitudes,” Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Group Show, McIntosh/Drysdale Gallery, Washington, DC
1980 “Art on the Beach,” Battery Park, New York, NY (catalog)
“6 Los Angeles Sculptors,” Federal Reserve Building, Washington, DC, catalog
Group Show, Stage One Gallery, Orange, PA
1979 “Rooms, Moments Remembered,” Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, CA , catalog
“Drawings and Prints,” Space Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
“Sculpture ‘79,” Muckenthaler Cultural Center, Fullerton, CA
“Sculpture Invitational,” Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, WA
1978 “Artists Investigate the Environment,” Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Park, Los Angeles, CA
1977 “Miniature,” California State University, Los Angeles, CA (catalog)
“Proposal I-5,” California State University, San Jose, CA (catalog)
1976 “Michael Davis and John Okulick,” CSU, Humboldt, CA
“Michael Davis and John Partin,” CSU, San Jose, CA
1975 “Subject/Object,” Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, CA (catalog)
1974 Group Show, Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, CA
“Light Exhibition,” Claremont Graduate School, Libra Gallery, Claremont, CA
PUBLIC ART
SELECTED PUBLIC ART PROJECTS (Partial Listing)
2018 Edinger@Gothard Project, Huntington Beach CA
Lincoln Park, Burbank, CA in collaboration with Eugene Daub
2016 Camera Obscura: “Altered States,” White Point Nature Preserve, San Pedro, CA
California Street Bridge Project, Ventura, CA (current)
Plaza Promenade Project, Ventura, CA (current)
2014 ACT Transit District, Oakland to San Leandro (finalist)
Berkeley BART Station, Design Consultant/Arts Advisory
Richmond Intermodal Station, Design Consultant/Arts Advisory
Metro Gold Line, Arcadia Station, Arcadia CA (current)
2013 Camera Obscura Suite: “View Finder”, San Francisco Exploratorium, CA
2012 Manhattan Beach Centennial Sculpture Competition (finalist)
John Wayne Airport Public Art Commission, Santa Ana, CA (finalist)
Los Angeles Fire Department Air Operations Public Art Competition (finalist)
2011 Long Beach Transit ARRA Public Art Project, Long Beach, CA 2013
California Street Project, Ventura, CA (current)
Plaza Promenade Project, Ventura, CA (current)
San Jose, VTA Silicon Valley Rapid Transit Project, San Jose, CA (pending)
2010 Metro Police Station, Kansas City, MO
Central Subway Union Square/Market Street Station, San Francisco, CA (finalist)
2009 Harvey Milk Recreation Center, San Francisco Arts Commission
2008 Sybil Brand Institute, County of Los Angeles, CA, lead Artist, (Project paper available)
Bridge to Breakwater, Phase II, History Project, Port of LA, CA., (on-hold, current)
2007 Century City-Held Public Art Commission, Los Angeles, CA (finalist)
Kent County Courthouse, Providence RI., (finalist)
Fire Station 36, Dept. of Cultural Affairs City of Los Angeles
2006 Burbank Five Points Gateway Project, Burbank, CA (Finalist)
Bloom Art Walk Commission, George Tirebiter: USC, Los Angeles, CA
Learning Living Center, Univ. of Oregon, Eugene, OR., (Finalist)
Bronx Courthouse, % for the Arts Program, Dept. of Cultural Affairs, New York, NY
Seattle Arts Commission, Lander Station Rail Project
2005 Metro Gold Line, Montclair Station, Montclair CA. (finalist)
General Mitchell International Airport: Concourse “D”, Milwaukee, WI (finalist)
Bridge to Breakwater, Timm’s Landing Commission, City of LA, CA., (finalist)
Air Treatment Facilities, City of LA, CA., (finalist)
2004 Bridge to Breakwater, City of Los Angeles, CA., Art Master Plan
Oregon State Crime Lab., Oregon Arts Commission, % for Art Program, Portland,OR.
Promenade Plaza, d'Orsay Hotel, PCA % for Arts, Long Beach, CA (current)
CalTrans, LARTMC Operation Headquarters, Los Angeles, CA (finalist)
2003 Houston Main St., Cultural Arts Council of Houston & Harris County, Houston, TX
Washington State Arts Commission, Washington State University at Vancouver, WA
The Pike at Queensway Bay, Public Corporation for the Arts, Long Beach, CA
The Police & Fire Emergency Operation Center, Santa Monica, CA
Seattle Arts Commission, Justice Center Project, w/ Richard Turner, Nori Sato &
Pam Beyette, Seattle, WA
2002 Sarasota Season of Sculpture, The Big Frame, Sarasota, FL
Los Lagos Golf Course, San Jose Public Art Program, San Jose, CA
West San Fernando Valley Courthouse/LA Co. Arts Commission, Chatsworth, CA
2001 Narita Airport, Tokyo, Japan (finalist)
Chandelier Fall, Hollywood and Highland Project, Hollywood CA
2000 City of Santa Fe Springs Union Parkway Project (finalist)
Camarillo Transit Project, with Richard Turner (finalists)
LAMTA 7th & Metro Bench Project (finalist)
Houston International Airport (finalist)
LA Cultural Affairs Cabrillo Marine Museum (finalist)
1999 LAMTA, Vermont/Sunset Station, lead artist and co-designer with station architects, Diedrich and Associates, Atlanta, GA and Edward C. Barker and Associates, Los Angeles, CA
Heritage Park, City of Santa Fe Springs, CA (lead artist)
"Castillo," Mission Trails Public Art Project, City of San Antonio, T X
Fluor Corporation, Irvine, CA
San Diego Commission for Arts & Culture, Grantville Station (completion 2005)
1999 Sarasota City East Community Library & Field Operations Center, FL (finalist)
GSA, United States/Canada border crossing station (finalist)
1998 Marinaside Crescent Project, Vancouver, Canada (selected artist)
Transit Mall Project, City of Santa Monica, California (finalist)
Golf Course Commission, City of Carlsbad, California, and (finalist)
Los Angeles Staples Arena, Los Angeles, CA (finalist)
Civic Center Complex, San Francisco, CA, w/ Richard Turner (finalist)
1997 Downtown Parking Structure Art Plan, City of San Buenaventura, C A, (finalist)
Frances Stevens Park, City of Palm Springs, CA, w/Ann Preston, (finalist)
1996 City of Escondido Public Art Corridor Master Plan (with Ann Preston, Marc Palley and Richard Turner, Escondido, CA, (finalists)
The Los Angeles Zoo, (w/ Susan Hornsby-Ortiz & Richard Turner) LA, CA, (finalists)
Metro-Dade International Airport, Miami, Florida
1995 The Big Clock, Neiman Marcus, a site specific sculpture, Philadelphia, PA
Zephyr, North Irving Transit Station, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, Dallas, TX
The Anamorph, sculpture installation with Ann Preston and Richard Turner, Anaheim, CA
1994 Eclipse 2035, Tobu Hotel Grand, Sapporo, Japan, site-specific sculpture for lobby & exterior
Evanston Public Library, site-specific sculpture for facade of library, Evanston, IL (finalist)
Union Station Gateway Plaza, Intermodal Bus way Facility: Bus Shelters,
With Ann Preston and Richard Turner, Los Angeles, CA (finalist)
Alvarado Reservoir, with Richard Turner, San Diego, CA (finalist)
1992 Irvine Metro Rail Station, design team, site-specific elements for interior and exterior spaces, with Richard Turner, Irvine, CA
North Hollywood Police Station, lead artist for design of interpretive art elements incorporated into the interior and exterior spaces; collaboration with LAPD, LA Cultural Affairs Department and Meyers & Allen Assoc., Architects (completed, 1997)
1991 Mos - Cone - E, site-specific sculptural collaboration with artist Richard Turner, Mineko Grimmer and Michael Davis for the Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA (finalist/model)
Embarcadero, site-specific design team Richard Turner, Susan Schwartzenberg, Buster Simpson and Michael Davis for the 2.5 mile design of the Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA (finalist)
1990 Navis, design team collaboration, Nadel Architects, design of exterior plaza/fountain and site-sspecific installations, San Pedro, CA
World View, collaborative design of The Works Gallery South facade with Leonard Malmquist, architect of HFTA Group, Costa Mesa, CA
Man - Hat - Tan, site-specific installation, symbol and sign rebus, design in collaboration with Susan Groetsch, Manhattan Beach, CA
Floating Worlds, a series of site-specific installations for the Security Pacific National Bank, Irvine, CA (finalist)
Symbol and Word, installation, Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR (finalist)
Within is Belief/Belief is Within, site-specific installation, Social Services Building, Santa Barbara, CA (finalist)
No Boundary Condition, development, design and fabrication of garden and sculpture elements in collaboration with artist Jud Fine and landscape architect Richard Thomas, SWA Group for the Carnation Corporation World Headquarters, Glendale, CA
Inventions and Discoveries, site-specific sculpture/installation for Family Health Planning (FHP) Headquarters, Fountain Valley, CA
1989 - Parables; Sphere/Arch/Ring, three part site-specific installation, Karl Bornstein Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Green Bridge, Blue Ship, interior site-specific sculpture/mural installation, in collaboration with Terry Schoonhoven, San Pedro, CA
Ptolemy World, site-specific installation and fountain in collaboration with the Jerde Partnership, Beverly Hills, CA (finalist)
We the People, site-specific installations for Federal Building, Los Angeles, CA (finalist)
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS/INSTALLATIONS (PARTIAL):
Albuquerque Art Museum, Albuquerque, NM
California State University, Los Angeles, CA
Koll Center, Irvine, CA (collaboration with Terry Schoonhoven)
Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA
Hewlett Packard Regional Headquarters, North Hollywood, CA
Security Pacific National Bank, Los Angeles, CA
Anaconda Copper, Chicago, IL
Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, CA
California State University, Fullerton,CA
Anaheim,CA(Collaboration w/Ann Preston&Richard Turner)
California State University, Long Beach,CA
The Principal Group, Des Moines, IA
Los Angeles,Grand Promenade, Los Angeles, CA
Union Federal Savings, Brea, CA
Los Angeles, Pacific Place, San Pedro, CA
Los Angeles, North Hollywood Police Station,CA
Sheraton Hotel, San Pedro, CA (collaboration with Terry Schoonhoven)
FHP International Headquaters, Fountain Valley, CA
Dallas, TX
Neiman-Marcus, King of Prussia, PA.
Bristol-Meyer Squibb Company, NJ.
Santa Monica, CA, Public Safety Facility
San Jose, CA
Washington State University, Vancouver, WA
Chatsworth, CA, LA County Court House
Seattle, WA, Seattle Justice Center
The Pike at QueensWay Bay, Long Beach, CA., Public Corporation for the Arts
New York City, NY
Kansas City, MO
EDUCATION:
California State University Fullerton, CA., M.F.A.
GRANTS AND AWARDS:
AIA Award
National Endowment for the Arts, Artists’ Fellowship (2 awards)
Hand Hollow Foundation (HHF) Artists’ Fellowship
PUBLIC SERVICE:
ADVISORY BOARDS
Mayor's Design Advisory Panel (current)
University Art Museum, CSULB, Advisory Board Chairman (Current)
Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Art Advisory Committee (Current)
LA Community Redevelopment Agency, Public Art Committee
LA 2000 Advisory Arts Committee
1984 Olympic Arts Advisory Committee
Angels Gate Cultural Center, Board Member
PANELS AND GUEST LECTURES (partial):
2010,2011 Exploratorium, San Francisco CA, Observatory Syposium
2008 American for the Arts, National Convention, Philadelphia, PA
2007 American for the Arts, National Convention, Milwaukee,WA
2003 College of Art and Design, Guest Lecture
Long Beach, Public Arts In America, Conference Panelist
1997 Summer Arts, California State University, Long Beach
Public Art in the Urban Landscape
1996 Laguna School of the Arts, Guest Curator
1995 WAM Guest Lecturer “On the Process of Collaboration, Public Art and Public Places”
1987 “Public Art In America,” Philadelphia, Panelist/Workshop, Presenter
Laguna Art Museum, Art In Public Places, Guest Lecturer
1987 - 1992 Community Redevelopment Agency, Panelist, Public Art Review
1993 CSU, Long Beach, Public Art, “The Building, the Port and the Landscape
1992 California State University, Los Angeles, Guest Lecturer, Graduate Studies
Oakland Art Museum, Guest Presenter, “From the Studio”
1991 University of Southern California, Art In Public Places Program, Conference Panelist, Public Art a New Paradigm.
Situ,” California State University, Long Beach
1985 “Public Arts: Means and Objectives,” Claremont Graduate School, guest lecturer
1983 Santa Rosa College, guest artist
1981 Albuquerque Art Museum, guest artist