PHOTOS: While artists may be a dime a dozen in the Big Apple, few young artists are as sexy and inspiring as the work they create.
Meet Michael Lazar. He’s young, talented, and has a huge… paintbrush. Lazar recently unveiled his latest gallery collection, ICONS — a celebration of the power of iconography and color” — at the OUT NYC Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. The art, like Michael, is sexy, edgy, and full of surprises. Using his love of all-things-pop for inspiration, Lazar filled the hallways of the hotel’s lobby with large canvases of brightly-colored, heavily layered paintings and collages themed by Madonna, Britney, Disney princesses, and more. One of the standouts was an ode to Madonna, clad in her best Eva Peron, called Her Madge-esty.
“My philosophy is a mixture of social commentary and a pie in the face,” ,” Michael said. “Whether working with collage or painting, LAZAR ART evokes nostalgia, remembrance, and an ease with which the viewer can relate to the context of the piece, whether it be Disney icons, patriotism, Hollywood, romance, and classic cross-cultural images like the heart, star or simple daisy.”
Before becoming one of New York’s newest up-and-coming pop art stars, Michael was a singer, dancer, actor, and model. He’s not just a another pretty face (and muscles) with lots of talent, he’s got a big heart underneath and gives back to the LGBTQ community whenever possible. LAZAR ART has been shown at TriBeca’s prestigious Space on White as a solo visual artist for Exhibit Equality, a fundraiser for the subsequent 2009 March on Washington, sponsored by the original company of Broadway’s acclaimed revival of HAIR.
Along with the larger pop-themed pieces are smaller cartoon illustrations and sketches, perfect starter pieces for anyone’s home collection. While subjects chosen for ICONS are familiar trends in the gay zeitgeist, Lazar’s works bring out something new, something dazzling, something shocking—sometimes sad and eerie—but always fresh and evocative.
ICONS is on display at the OUT NYC (510 West 42nd Street) through January 23rd, 2014. You can learn more about Michael’s work at http://lazar-art.com | Photo Credit: Tom Hafner Elicerio, THE Photography
Jonathan D. Lovitz is an LGBTQ community advocate, communications specialist, and former actor, best known for several shows on LOGO TV. He currently lives in NYC and travels nationally to speak about advocacy. Follow him on Twitter at @jdlovitz.
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Uisce
These are terrible. Like high-school art-class terrible. I guess the guy being “sexy” is what makes this article relevant.
ThePinkSuperhero
We love Mike! Love him so much we bought one of his pieces (not pictured) and we love having it in our home, though I look forward to the day when my grandchildren can sell it for millions 😀
Jake357
High school indeed. Yeesh. I know 90% of art is about marketing but this is pushing it.
TinoTurner
Lets cut the bullshit, this is garbage. If I saw this stuff in a pile at a thrift store, I wouldnt buy it for $1. Who is this guy and why do we care? Slow news day?
truckproductions
so these are awful.. like really bad high school paintings.. Why does Queerty continue to post terrible “artists” in music and art that are terrible
truckproductions
@ThePinkSuperhero: lol good luck with that!
throwslikeagirl
To use this artist’s appearance as a headline, as if that should have anything to do with my interest in reading this article and/or viewing his work, is insulting to both him and me. Shame on you, Queerty. Time to reconsider your ethics.
jtnjpuwylt
I met this guy in school like 8 yrs ago and he’s harmless — seemed sweet. and ya kinda cute with a 6 pack. i’d probably write an article about his collages, regardless of what they looked like, in hopes of getting laid, too. but the poor guy is going to get destroyed in these comments. not sure he’s getting any favors out of this one.
Jacob
It must be great to produce nothing, create nothing, never put out anything into the world except judgment on the blood, sweat and tears of others. There really aren’t enough critics in the world. So thankful you guys are here to rip everyone in our own community to shreds. If you don’t like the work, why not just scroll on? Don’t you think it’s probably hard enough to be an gay artist without members of your own community scrambling to tell you how worthless you are? Somebody gave the guy an art show. I’m sure that happens all the time for you and whatever it is you produce, besides digital bile.
halfahomo
Bunch of art lovers on Queerty today, I see….Dont like the guys work? Go out and produce something better…and see if you can find a Metro station toilet stall who will display YOUR “work” for nearly 5 months straight. And before you comedians chime in…no, the grafitti on the walls doesn’t count as “art”.
Best of luck, Michael. Every artist starts somewhere, you’ve taken that step. Kudos!
jwrappaport
@Jacob: @halfahomo:
Your arguments really don’t hold water. First, we don’t need your permission to comment on a piece of art, least of all one that is displayed so prominently in such a public space. Second, having your work in a museum for any amount of time has no bearing on the quality of the work.
I am unashamed to admit that I think most modern art that I’ve seen, especially many of the pieces hanging in our most prestigious temples of high art (MOMA, LACMA, Tate Modern, and so forth), is cultural refuse that, if placed on a trash heap, would be indistinguishable from the garbage beneath it to those not indoctrinated in the ways of “high art.” I refuse to be browbeaten by pseudo-intellectuals and concept artists who don’t seem to think that aesthetics matter. Sorry, but I value beauty and technique. There is enough ugliness in the world that I don’t intend to drop a twenty to see it framed on a wall.
Though I’m a musician by training, I love all the arts for their singular ability to uplift me and give me hope that, despite the drudgery, sadness, and abject suffering in the world, there is still so much beauty and so much good. In short, it makes life bearable in that it allows us to transcend our own lived world, even if but for a brief moment. That is what art is to me. It is not kitsch, shtick, a gimmick, or any nonsense concept that tells me I’m a philistine for not thinking a Campbell’s Soup Can is transcendentally meaningful.
jwrappaport
@halfahomo: I should have added more emphatically: I am an art lover, and it is exactly and precisely because art, specifically music, is so central to my life that I felt compelled to respond.
Maybe the artist is a nice guy – he sure is cute. But frankly, this exhibition is an insult to at least some people who know what it means to be an artist and the kind of sacrifice it takes to have even a foundation for technique.
balehead
Seen this a lot and done better…..very pedestrian…
regina4aregina2037
Are and we are again faced with that agless quote…’Beauty is in the eye of the beholder’