About
Born 1976, New York native, currently resides in the SF Bay Area
Ever since he was a child, art has been a necessity for Michael. He sees it as a means of storytelling. Drawing from personal experiences, both difficult and inspiring, D’Amelio engages directly with his audience, inviting them into his complex world and allowing them to make their own associations.
While attending SUNY Purchase College for Fine Arts on scholarship, D’Amelio found himself drawn to abstract expressionism and neo-dadaism. Not wanting to be bound to any medium or movement he began experimenting with a combination of painting, drawing, photography, printmaking, design and collage to find his voice. His work was exhibited in numerous student shows, and he graduated near the top of his class.
After college, D’Amelio continued experimenting with his art while carving out a very successful career in Design. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors for The Ray Light Foundation, which provides art scholarships to at-risk youths. Learning the children’s stories behind their work inspired him to take a more psychological approach to his creative process and muses.
It was in 2016 with the birth of his daughter that D’Amelio’s artwork really found its voice. Fascinated by the innocence and freedom she had on a canvas, new creative doors opened from within.
Today D’Amelio is consistently producing his best work. Using mixed media, his ghost-like creatures have an uncontrollable energy that blur good versus evil while creating a strange sense of sanctuary. You almost can’t look away.
About
Born 1976, New York native, currently resides in the SF Bay Area
Ever since he was a child, art has been a necessity for Michael. He sees it as a means of storytelling. Drawing from personal experiences, both difficult and inspiring, D’Amelio engages directly with his audience, inviting them into his complex world and allowing them to make their own associations.
While attending SUNY Purchase College for Fine Arts on scholarship, D’Amelio found himself drawn to abstract expressionism and neo-dadaism. Not wanting to be bound to any medium or movement he began experimenting with a combination of painting, drawing, photography, printmaking, design and collage to find his voice. His work was exhibited in numerous student shows, and he graduated near the top of his class.
After college, D’Amelio continued experimenting with his art while carving out a very successful career in Design. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors for The Ray Light Foundation, which provides art scholarships to at-risk youths. Learning the children’s stories behind their work inspired him to take a more psychological approach to his creative process and muses.
It was in 2016 with the birth of his daughter that D’Amelio’s artwork really found its voice. Fascinated by the innocence and freedom she had on a canvas, new creative doors opened from within.
Today D’Amelio is consistently producing his best work. Using mixed media, his ghost-like creatures have an uncontrollable energy that blur good versus evil while creating a strange sense of sanctuary. You almost can’t look away.
Work
Mother (2022 – present)
Mother is our birth and our earth. She is a mother, father, best friend, protector, moral compass, provider and so much more. This series draws from the emotion of my mother’s failing health to witnessing the amazement of the female anatomy and strength of my wife during the pregnancy and birth of our daughter to the overturning of Roe vs Wade to mother earth and climate change.
Color, contour and symbols of life, transformation, death and religion fight to capture the complexity of chaos and beauty that is mother. She has many colors, faces, thoughts and ideas.
She is the key to our future. What the future holds is up to us right now.
Breathe (2020 – 2022)
Culled from witnessing his father’s last breath, the video of George Floyd’s murder and Covid-19’s race for ventilators, this series is a fight until the last breath.
Expressionist brush strokes and bursts of color provide an uncontrolled energy as if life is flashing before the creature’s eyes. A rhythm of shockwaves reverberates a history of violence, experience, deprivation, and love throughout the work.
Will it live or die?
Throughout the chaos, cyclical contours and careful composition capture a slow moving whirlpool, bringing a sense of order as if to say this has happened before with a foreboding glance at the future that it will happen again.
Despite what appears to be an imminent fate, a fleeting sense of hope is pleading to be recognized whether it be through a somber eye, a beating heart, or symbols of rebirth.
Nature Nurture
2020, Mixed media on paper, 60"x48"
Thoughts & Prayers
2020, Mixed media on paper, 60"x48"
Just Let Me Go
2021, Mixed media on paper, 60"x48"
Pound Of Flesh
2021, Mixed media on paper, 60"x48"
8:49
2021, Mixed media on paper, 60"x48"
Vent
2020, Mixed media on paper, 60"x48"
Waiting For Video From Host
2020, Mixed media on paper, 48"x48"
Insurrection Erection
2021, Mixed media on paper, 60"x48"
Hysteria
2021, Mixed media on paper, 60"x48"
Last Gasp
2022, Mixed media on paper, 46"x39"
PRESS
May 2023
Pleasanton Weekly – Inside their creative environment
This weekend Tri-Valley residents will have the chance to engage with dozens of local artists, crafters, jewelry makers and creatives to view their works in their most vulnerable spaces — the studio.
March 2023
The Independent – Tri-Valley Artist Studio Tour Showcases a Variety of Local Talent
Livermore resident Mike D’Amelio is one of over 60 artists taking part in the Tri-Valley Artist Studio Tour, May 6-7. The tour brings artists, art and the public together by highlighting hundreds of pieces from a variety of disciplines in locations from Danville to Livermore.
Exhibitions
“Tri Valley Artist Studio Tour – TVAST 2023”, Firehouse Art Center, Pleasanton, CA, May 6-7 2023
“Imagination Expressed 2023”, Museum on Main, Pleasanton, CA, Jan. 2023
“Political Storm” Las Laguna Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA, Nov. 2022
“No Boundaries” Dublin Art Collective, Dublin, CA, Nov. 2022
“15th Annual Fall Members’ Show” Pleasanton Art League, Pleasanton, CA, Nov. 2022
“Art in the Time of Corona Volume III” Dab Art Co., Los Angeles, CA, August 2022
“What Do You Do In The Summer?” Livermore Arts Association, Livermore, CA, September 2022
“ArtWalk Livermore 2022”, Alliance for the Visual Arts, Livermore, CA, October 2022
“Art Abstracted” Group Exhibition, Dublin, CA, November 2022
“Backyard A.R.T.S.” Group Exhibition, Alliance for the Visual Arts, Livermore, CA, May 2022
“Open Studios” Group Exhibition, East Bay Open Studios, Livermore, CA, June 2022
“SIBOR EXPO” Group Exhibition, Hilton Garden, New York, NY, June 2022
“Art Walk” Group Exhibition, 6th Street Art Studios, Gilroy, CA, December 2021
ASSOCIATIONS
