Mike Swaney

Born 1978 in Kimberley, British Columbia, lives and works in Barcelona.

Swaney's work is based on imagination, as an opposition to photography. He intentionally turns to references such as Jean Dubuffet, Art Brut or Outsider Art, and to infinite search channels such as the Internet.

His pieces are full of characters with a naive and symbolic appearance. Human figures made of essential strokes and colours and cut out on flat backgrounds. Simplified faces that Swaney uses with certain irony, as emoticons of today's society, as a window where to contemplate our world.

Known for his expressive painting and sculptures, Swaney invites the viewer to inquire about customs, rituals and objects from the perspective of the absurd. Their eagerness to reproduce situations of our daily life causes that, once introduced in the work, they adhere to a surrealist logic that leaves no one indifferent.

Oil, acrylic, gesso and pen on canvas are enough for him to play with contemporary folklore in texts, newspaper clippings and artifacts. The result is multicolored jugs, symmetrical castellets and emoticons full of humor.

Swaney has exhibited his work in galleries and art fairs around the world; from Barcelona to New York, passing through Miami, Toronto, Copenhagen and Brussels.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS | EXPOSICIONES INDIVIDUALES (SELECTION)

2023. Jardín de Luz. Delimbo Gallery. Sevilla.

2019. Peanut Butter & Honey Moon, Sorry We’re Closed, Brussels

2018. Here I am, here I am, how do you do? L21, Mallorca, Spain

2017. Ongange Lellow, Gnyp Gallery, Berlin
2016. Papisho, Charlotte Fogh Gallery, Aarhus
2015. Physiology of Taste, Rafael Pérez Hernando, Madrid

2015. Sculptures & Groceries, Louis 21 – The Envelope, Palma de Mallorca

2014. Subtropics, Krets, Malmö

2014. Hut 1 Paintings 4, Blokker, Madrid
2013. Sleeping Beauty Painter, Charlotte Fogh Gallery, Aarhus

2013. You just got blogged, me & the curiosity, Barcelona

2013. :•), noestudio, Madrid
2012. Efecto Dubuffet, Mulherin + Pollard, New York

2012. Go West, Escala, Valencia, Spain 2011 Ding Dong , Alice Gallery, Brussels

2012. Ancient Scrolls, Diana Lowenstein Fine Arts, Miami 2010 The Corner, Victor Saavedra, Barcelona
2009. Zulu Voodoo Buddha Guru, Iguapop Gallery, Barcelona

2009. Safari Arc Performance, Locust Projects, Miami
2008. Butler’s Credit, Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects, Toronto

2008. Whitehorse, Yellowknife, Red Deer, Atelier Gallery, Vancouver

2007. Artifacts from Finland, Iguapop Gallery, Barcelona

2006. Onoffonoffonoff (w/ Human ve collective), Art Firm, Calgary
2004. Spirit in the sky takes rest..., (w/ Human ve collective), The Crying Room, Vancouver

2003. Human ve (w/ Human ve collective), Compound Gallery, Portland

GROUP EXHIBITIONS | EXPOSICIONES COLECTIVAS (selection)

2021. CRYSTAL. Delimbo Gallery, Spain

2020.Then and Now, Allouche Benias Gallery, Athens

2020.The Edge of Chaos, The Newsstand Project, LA

2018. 3 person show, Ever Gold Projects, San Francisco

2018. As If A Field Could Become Some Dream, No Place, Columbus, Ohio

2018. Velvet Ropes GIFC, David Risley Gallery, Copenhagen
2017. In Paper We Trust, The Dot Project, London- curated by Sara Clarken & Brigitte Mulholland

2017. Three-way Ticket, Needles And Pens, San Francisco- curated by Pablo de Pinho

2017. 21, Left Field Gallery, San Luis Obispo, USA

2016. Grand Opening Show, Allouche Gallery, NY

2016. Itch Under The Skin, Charlotte Fogh Gallery, Aarhus, Denmark
2016. GIFC VOL 2-6, David Risley Gallery, Happy Ending, HAIK HQ, Steinsland Berliner, Agnes B’s Gallerie du Jour
2016. Christmas Show, Versace Versace Versace, Miami

2015. Second Show, Eddys Room Gallery, NY

2015. Art Copenhagen w/ Charlotte Fogh Gallery, Denmark Sun Spot, Big Medium Gallery at Canopy, Austin, Texas Summer Mixer, Joshua Liner Gallery, New York

2015. Crossing the Line, Charlotte Fogh Gallery, Aarhus, Denmark
2015. Group show – Koelsch Gallery, Houston, Texas
2015. Creative Expressions, organized by Jonathan Rajewski, College for Creative Studies, Detroit 2015. Art Herning w/ Charlotte Fogh Gallery, Herning, Denmark

2014. Ingràvid group show curated by Me & the Curiosity, Galería Lola Ventós, Figueres Swab Art 2014. Fair w/ me & the curiosity & Charlotte Fogh Gallery, Barcelona Summertimes, Galeria Yusto/Giner, Marbela

2014. Salat, 3 person show, CCA Andratx, Andratx

2014. Arti cilia, Cyan Gallery, Barcelona
2014. Still Life, Charlotte Fogh Gallery, Aarhus
2014. Just Before Brazil, Alice Gallery, Brussels
2014. Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Curated by Mónica Álvarez Careaga, Galería Astarté, Madrid

2014. Lost in Space, curated by Aliceday, Alice Gallery, Brussels

2013. The Hanging (w/ Huskmitnavn), Ruttkowski 68, Cologne

2013. Whole, In Part. Artists' Publications from the MACBA Collections, Musac, Leon Groupshow, 2013. Gallery Steinsland Berliner, Stockholm
2013. Swab Art Fair w/ me & the curiosity, Barcelona
2013. Living Video, Demolden, Santander, Spain
2013. Wintershow, Charlotte Fogh Gallery, Aarhus, Denmark

2012. Art Copenhagen w/ Alice Gallery and Charlotte Fogh Gallery Paperworld, Charlotte Fogh Gallery, Aarhus, Denmark Domesticated Souls, Alice Gallery, Brussels

2012. Blaque Lyte, ADA Gallery, Richmond, USA

2012. Esto no es graffiti, Cicus, Sevilla, Spain

2012. Fun, Riihimäki Art Museum, Riihimäki, Finland

2011. Pulse Miami w/ Diana Lowenstein Fine Arts

2011. BYOB Barcelona, Fundació Met.room
2011. Funky Pretty, Gallery Steinsland Berliner, Stockholm Art Brussels w/ Alice gallery

2010. Pintura? cuatro respuestas, Adhoc Galeria, Vigo, Spain

2010. Relationships, Galleri Christoffer Egelund, Copenhagen
2010. Guasch Coranty Painting Prize exhibition, Centre d’Art Tecla Sala, Barcelona Draw, Museo de la Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico City
2010. Group show, Guerrero Gallery, San Francisco
2010. To the road less travelled..., V1 Gallery, Copenhagen

2009. The Pop of Colors, POVevolving Gallery, Los Angeles

2009. Hello My Name Is, Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects, Los Angeles

2008. SCOPE Miami with Iguapop Gallery

2008. Landscape Portrait Pattern, Hallway Projects, San Francisco
2008. Out of STH, group show at Awangarda BWA, Wroclaw, Poland
2008. White Noise Drawn Together, V1 Gallery, Copenhagen
2008. How Clouds Dream (2 person show), Deluge Contemporary, Victoria, Canada Art Chicago & Art Cologne w/ Galeria Altxerri
2008. SCOPE New York w/ Iguapop Gallery
2008. White Noise, Space 1026, Philadelphia

2007. SCOPE Miami w/ Iguapop Gallery

2007. Slump (2 person show), Galeria Altxerri, San Sebastian, Spain Swab Art Fair w/ Iguapop Gallery, Barcelona

2005. Humble Beginnings, Belkin Satelite, Vancouver

2002. Dollhouse, The Crying Room, Vancouver

2002. It’s a Small World, Gallerie le Deco, Tokyo & Sis Boom Bah, Toronto

2002. Suggestive Line, Belkin Satellite Gallery, Vancouver
2001. Live installation/performance with Human ve, Helen Pitt Gallery, Vancouver

2001. Residents, Bubble Gallery, Vancouver

RESIDENCIES | RESIDENCIAS

Simcor Residency, Los Angeles - November 2019

CCA Aandratx Residency, Mallorca – June 2014

Noestudio, Madrid, Jan. – Feb. 2013
Fountainhead Residency, Miami, Sept. – Nov. 2008

Jardín de Luz

Mike Swaney solo exhibition

9 Mar - 6 May 2023

Swaney is widely known for his expressive paintings and sculptures that invite the viewer to question customs, rituals, and objects from the perspective of the absurd. His eagerness to reproduce...

Crystal. 15 years of Delimbo Gallery

Collective exhibition | Delimbo Sevilla

26 Jun - 17 Sep 2021

Delimbo Gallery celebrates 15 years with a collective exhibition that resumes its life during this period. The space embraces a selection of pieces of Alexandre Farto aka Vhils, Okuda San...

Friends and Family Vol IV

Nano4814, Louis Lambert, Mike Swaney & Ana Barriga | Delimbo Sevilla

19 Dec 2020 - 6 Feb 2021

Mike Swaney, Ana Barriga, Nano4814 & Louis Lambert

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