ARTIST BIO
I was born outside of Pittsburgh, PA in 1977 (a reason why you’ll find those numbers in my artwork). As a kid, I was really shy but eventually found art that helped me find my voice. I would trace cartoons, skateboard graphics and album covers. I can recall drawing Guns N Roses “Appetite For Destruction” many times in sixth grade or sitting in church every Sunday doodling on whatever paper I could find. I took art classes throughout high school and decided to pursue a degree in fine arts after school. I went on to college at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, two hours north of Pittsburgh. I focused on printmaking at the time, which is where I learned about artists like Jose Guadalupe Posada and the German Expressionists like Kathe Kollwitz. I loved woodcut printing as it offered bold black line work and a graphic quality that I’d later use in my paintings.
After I finished school and returned home, I did not have the necessary supplies to continue making my prints. Instead, I turned to painting so I could keep making art. I’ll be honest, in the beginning my paintings were bad. Like REALLY bad, but I enjoyed making them and I continued to learn what worked and what didn’t. In the meantime, I lived near the airport and ended up picking up a job with the airlines. My first day of work was an intro class on we should expect while working there. After two hours of videos we took a quick break. When we returned to class, we were shocked to see the horrific images of planes crashing into the twin towers. My first day of a full time job with the airlines ended up being September 11, 2001. Shortly after this day, I was let go and went back to making (bad) art, while I tried to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I contemplated going back to school, but the thought of a multi-year investment deterred me.
I tried to find a new career that required limited schooling and, somehow or another, I stumbled on funeral directing. I looked into it more and had discovered that there was a mortuary school in Pittsburgh where I could get licensed as a funeral director/embalmer fairly quickly. I knew nothing about the business or what I was getting myself into. I went to school for a year and followed that up with an internship for another year. I learned how to do removals, embalm, do restorations, dress and casket people, do the cosmetics and assist on funerals. During all of this, I continued to paint and make even more bad art. I eventually got a job as an embalmer out in Reading, PA in 2005, four hours east of Pittsburgh. Between four locations, we did 500 calls a year, so it was a busy time for me. The hard thing about being an embalmer is that you're always on call, so when someone passed away my phone rang and I had to go to work. I spent a lot of time alone in my apartment waiting for said phone to ring. A lot. This is where I learned to craft my paintings and style. I started to take influence from my printmaking days in 2000, as well as my appreciation of traditional (American & prison style) tattooing and used it to create new work with bold lines and dark imagery. Once I started to paint in that style, things really started to click for me and I felt like I had finally found my voice as an adult.
During 2006, a friend of mine put together a gallery show in Pittsburgh and offered to include my paintings. I sold three the opening night, and I was so excited and realized that maybe I was onto something. I used my love of religious imagery, my experiences dealing with life and death, and my love for skeletons and devils to make my art. Since then, I've been working with galleries and collectors all over the world. I have been able to grow in other mediums as well such as developing toys in resin and vinyl, designing posters, creating a clothing brand and working with ceramics. I continue to challenge myself with finding projects that push my art along with presenting it in a new and exciting way.
RESUME
Mike Egan
Artist/Designer
Education
1996-2000 Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, Edinboro, PA
Bachelor of Fine Arts
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023 “Spirit Animals” Solo Show, Copro Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2022 “Death God Love” Solo Show, Anno Domini Gallery, San Jose, CA
2021 “In Memory Of” Solo show, Firecat Projects, Chicago, IL
2021 “Cruel Summer” Solo show, The Montauk Beach House, Montauk, NY
2021 “Life Is Hard” Solo show, Thinkspace Projects, Los Angeles, CA
2020 “Invisible Monsters” Solo show, Stranger Factory, Albuquerque, NM
2019 “These Dying Days” Solo show, Penny Contemporary, Hobart, Tasmania
2018 “Where Death Goes To Die” Solo show, Anno Domini Gallery, San Jose, CA
2017 "Long Live Death" Solo show, Yard Dog Gallery, Austin, TX
2016 "I Saw You At My Funeral", Solo show, Matthew Rachman Gallery, Chicago, IL
2015 “Live Fast, Die Faster”, Solo Show, Gauntlet Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2014 “Death Had A Funeral”, Solo Show, Lindsay Gallery, Columbus, OH
2014 “Death Came To Texas” Solo Show, Yard Dog Gallery, Austin, TX
2013 "We Bleed Black Blood When We Die Dark Deaths" Solo Show, Breeze Block Gallery, Portland, OR
2013 "Death Goes Pop" Mini Solo Show, San Diego Comic Con, San Diego, CA
2013 "Death Will Tear Us Apart" Solo Show, Anno Domini Gallery, San Jose, CA
2012 "Dead Memories" Solo Show, Mariposa Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
2012 "The Day That Death Stayed Home" Solo Show, Gallery on 43rd St., Pittsburgh, PA
2011 "The Death Of 1977:New Works By Mike Egan" Solo Show, Yard Dog Gallery, Austin, TX
2011 "Funerals:New Works by Mike Egan" Solo Show, Anno Domini Gallery, San Jose, CA
2010 "Sorry For the Blood" Solo Show, Mariposa Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
2010 "Dead Portraits:New works by Mike Egan", Solo Show, Slingluff Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2008 "Praying at the Funeral" Solo Show, Metropolis Gallery, Lancaster, PA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022 “What We Do Is Secret” 2 Person Show, Revolution Gallery, Buffalo, NY
2021 “What A Weird Time To Be Alive” Group Show, A. Hurd Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
2020 “Post-It” Group Show, Giant Robot, Los Angeles, CA
2019 “Post-It” Group Show, Giant Robot, Los Angeles, CA
2019 “Let's Eat” Group Show, Giant Robot, Los Angeles, CA
2019 “Folk Noir” Group Show, Stranger Factory, Albuquerque, NM
2018 “Psycho Salon” Group Show, Superchief Gallery, New York, NY
2018 "Freedom Rock" 4 Person Show, Red Truck Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2018 "Nine Lives" Group Show, Parlor Gallery, Asbury Park, NJ
2017 "Obsidian Garden" 3 Person Show, Talon Gallery, Portland, OR
2016 "LAX/ORD" Thinkspace Curated Group Show, Vertical Gallery, Chicago, IL
2016 "Arcana" Group show, Red Truck Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2015 “10 Years of Thinkspace”, Group Show, Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2015 “Laluzapalooza” Group Show, La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2014 “Space//Squared” Group Show, White Walls Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2014 “LAX/TXL”, Group Show, Urban Nation, Berlin Germany
2013 "Bewitching III" Group Show, Stranger Factory, Albuquerque, NM
2013 "Old Friends, New Work" Group Show, Parlor Gallery, Asbury Park, NJ
2012 "Fortune Favors The Bold" Group Show, Parlor Gallery, Asbury Park, NJ
2012 "Picks of the Harvest" Group Show, Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2010 "Fresh Produce" Group Show, Anno Domini Gallery, San Jose, CA
2010 "Skull" Group Show, Parlor Gallery, Asbury Park, NJ
2010 “Sleight of Hand” Group Show, Recoat Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland
2009 "New Works by Mike Egan and Ben Kehoe", Metropolis Gallery, Lancaster, PA
2008 “Launch Exhibition” Group Show, Cement Gallery, London, England
2007 “So Many Selves…” Group Show, Carmichael Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2007 “We Could Have Killed But Created”Group Show, Modern Formations Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
2006 “City of Monsters” Group Show, Garfield Artworks, Pittsburgh, PA
Museum Exhibitions
2021 Solo Exhibition, Customs House Museum, Clarksville, TN
2016 “New Van Guard” Group Exhibition, Lancaster Museum of Art & History, Lancaster, CA
2009 "Day of the Dead:Art & Culture in the Americas" Everheart Museum, Scranton, PA
Art Fairs
2016 LA Art Show, Represented by Gauntlet Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2015 Scope Art Fair, Represented by Gauntlet Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2014 Scope Art Fair, Represented by Thinkspace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Publications
2021 Total Tattoo Magazine, Cover Artist and Full Interview
2014 “The Mammoth Book of Skulls” Paperback Book, Robinson Books, London, England
2011 “SkullFace” Hardcover Book, Korero Books, Pages 54-57
2008 Events, “New Works by Mike Egan” Metropolis Gallery, Lancaster, PA
Juxtapoz Magazine No. 90, San Francisco, CA pg. 132
2007 “theMAKE” hardcover book, 40 selected artists, The Number Media
House, Victoria, BC.
