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In just under two weeks, artist Mike Egan’s Los Angeles pop-up gallery opens at Worklife Studios. The Pittsburgh-born painter largely depicts the many layers of life and death through morbid imagery and patterns reminiscent of stained glass.
We were delighted to chat with Egan about his colorful approach to mortality and the fascinating transition from embalmer to fine artist.
Egan began making art in childhood. In kindergarten, he recalls being given paper and pens as a way to “babysit” him. Growing up he was influenced by record covers for bands like Guns N’ Roses and the Beastie Boys. Specifically, “the skulls, the monsters, and the daggers,” he goes on, “just trying to trace it and kind of mimic it in my own way as a kid.”
Egan’s prowess led him to pursue a fine art degree at Edinboro University where he focused on printmaking. A professor introduced him to German Expressionists like Käthe Kollwitz and the art of José Guadalupe Posada, “I think they set the standard for me as far as skulls and skeletons in my artwork.” But Egan’s next step solidified his work's recurring themes of death.
After earning his degree, Egan felt unsure about the next step and worked various jobs before eventually discovering opportunities at a mortuary school in Pittsburgh. Without knowing anyone in the business, he pursued a funeral director/embalmer license and went to school for a year while living in a funeral home. “I learned how to do removals, embalm, do restorations, dress and casket people, do the cosmetics, and assist on funerals.” All the while, he continued to paint.
It’s Egan’s belief that constantly looking at stained glass windows during services influenced his body of work, “It’s kind of like, what my work is. It is very much a puzzle of shapes and colors…it could easily translate into stained glass windows.”
Egan began to embrace his art and combine experience with technique, “I thought back to my printmaking days in 2000 and how I loved the bold line work I was doing. So I started to paint in that style and things started to click for me.”
Egan soon began to gain recognition in his community and beyond. At his first show, he sold three pieces on opening night “That’s what kind of solidified for me ok, well you can actually do this as a job.” He recalls social media's rapid growth at the time; the more art he got online, the more inquiries he received. Since then, he’s worked with galleries all over the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the UK.
“Nowadays you can have a social media presence and kind of run your own business.” His experience breaking into the art scene assured Egan of the lawless nature of getting art sold. “There’s no handbook,” he tells me, “It’s still very much a Wild West situation.”
Among his most successful collections is “Tiny Deaths;” aimed at getting affordable art into the hands of collectors–namely those who've never been able to buy a piece. Egan’s yearly collection consists of fifty 8x8 paintings a year, which are sold on a first come first serve basis and typically sell out on the first day. He jokes it’s become a bit like collectible ornaments “Everybody’s like ah, I got to get one for this year.”
Egan’s also made Tiny Deaths a way to give back. This year, ten percent of all sales went to the SMARTS program in Youngstown Ohio–a community school program providing free art classes for students. “I think it’s cool to show other people, hey, you can make art, you can buy art, and we can still do cool things for people that need it.”
As his career lengthens, Egan finds that his work has increased relevance in his own life with darker themes resonating more than ever. Egan says his work is not only about death but about life, mental health, and the ways we might have a positive impact on others “I’m starting to become more of a storyteller rather than it just being about ‘hey I’m painting blood and skulls and death here.’”
If you’re near LA, come explore Mike Egan's all-new art later this month. This two-night pop-up is a buy-and-carry event; all pieces will be available for purchase the night of.
Browse Mike’s “Death is Present” show on our Artsy page.
When: November 20 & 21 from 6-10 pm
Where: 3531 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles
Visit Mike’s website http://mikeeganart.com
Follow Mike on Instagram
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