ART / STUDIO / COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE

The artist’s notebook.

Portraits, drawings, murals, geometric diagrams, comic theater and other ways of seeing. Some works ask questions; others make fun of the questioner.

Allegory of the Portrait Painter, Commedia dell’arte-style archival drawing — “Allegory of the Portrait Painter” · archival file title; date and medium to confirm

A RECURRING CAST OF CHARACTERS

The foolish business of being earnest.

The self-mocking Commedia dell’arte drawings belong near the center of this archive. They are a reminder that a life devoted to ideas also needs theater, humor, exaggeration and a willingness to appear ridiculous.

Carlo Pittore, a character in a developing manuscript, gives that sensibility a name: the painter-fool who defends beauty while laughing at his own grandstanding.

The character description is based on an unpublished draft. The drawing and character have not yet been definitively matched as a series; the attribution, titles and dates will be reviewed.

View Michael’s Facebook photos ↗

DRAWINGS / PAINTINGS / STUDIES

From the studio archive.

A first selection from Michael’s drawing and studio files. Open any image for a closer look. Titles and medium descriptions follow the source filenames; dates appear only where recorded there.

Pastel figure study of a reclining woman against a blue background — **Venus**
Pastel · 2012, as recorded in the archive filename

Graphite drawing of a reclining figure with arms raised behind the head — **The Source of My Sons**
Graphite on white paper · date unrecorded

Standing figure study viewed from behind, with hands clasped at the lower back — **The Finn**
Figure study · medium and date to confirm

Detail of a colorful painting showing two seated figures facing one another — **Prelude — detail**
Painting detail · medium and date to confirm

Charcoal study of a seated woman turning to look over her shoulder — **Lucia**
Charcoal on white paper · date unrecorded

Portrait study
Portrait study from the studio archive; formal title, medium and date to confirm.

Drawing of a boy looking upward on orange paper — **Boy Looking Up**
Title follows the archive filename; medium and date to confirm.

Portrait study in profile
Descriptive gallery label; medium and date to confirm.

Face on Blue Paper
Title follows the archive filename; medium and date to confirm.

Drawing of a seated young woman resting her head on one hand — **Young Woman**
Title follows the archive filename; medium and date to confirm.

Painted portrait of a man with glasses and a moustache — **Carlo — study**
Archive filename: “carlo self”; identity, medium and date to confirm.

Figure study — Chicago, 1994
Koh Varilla Guild, Chicago · 1994, as recorded in the archive filename.

Pastel standing figure study with arms crossed — **Figure study in pastel**
Medium follows the archive filename; formal title and date to confirm.

PATTERN / GROWTH / GEOMETRY

Y-Module studies.

Drawings from the Y-Module archive, bringing branching patterns and transformable structures into view.

White branching spiral diagram on black with ABA notation — **ABA Coded Y-Growth Pattern**
From the Y-Module art archive; date unrecorded.

White geometric diagrams of a transforming tensegrity Y-module on black — **Tensegrity Y-Module Transformations**
From the Y-Module art archive; date unrecorded.

SELECTED ARCHIVAL IMAGES

Across mediums.

Selected images from connected studio archives, lightly optimized for the web. These captions are provisional pending a full portfolio inventory.

Michael working on a mural or painting at an indoor venue — **At work painting**
Archival studio photograph · location/date to confirm

Hand-drawn branching Y-Theory organic diagram — **Organic Y-Module study**
Notebook drawing · exact date to confirm

Detailed structural pattern illustration from Y-Theory archive — **Y-modulated bubble structures**
Mathematical/artistic exploration · scientific status not claimed

Archival classroom installation with large geometric forms in Chicago — **Chicago classroom, 1997**
File identifies Muzon Marin Primary Center, Humboldt Park

A PORTFOLIO STILL BEING REASSEMBLED

There are more images to catalog.

Our preliminary search uncovered a substantial “Mike Art” collection, additional older photographic folders, and a separate Y-Module art archive. Not all images are suitable for public posting without reviewing their subjects and permissions.

Michael has provided a direct Facebook link as the starting point for his photo archive, including Commedia dell’arte work. The linked Facebook collection could not be inspected without an authenticated session, so this version does not claim to have imported or independently identified the photographs in that collection.

Next catalog pass

Identify works and dates; confirm original authorship; record media and dimensions; separate commissioned portraits from family photographs; publish only cleared images; add captions and stories.