Collection: Michael Provenza Artist Biography and Art Gallery Collection

Michael Provenza is a world-renowned artist who has developed a distinctive pointillistic style and blending technique in his oil paintings that exudes a realistic and dimensional quality, yet is surreal and magical. His style is being characterized as Surrealist Pointillism. Michael Provenza has a totally original perception of landscape. He captures the brilliance of simplicity of the countryside. His scenery is remarkable for its suggestion of distances and aliveness. “My passion has always been to paint scenery that will bring viewers into my paintings and become engaged with the diverse qualities of nature – with a twist,” said Michael Provenza. “I like to call this body of work Life’s Journey.”

Michael Provenza was born in 1964 in Los Gatos, California. His personal journey as an artist began in his childhood, inspired by his grandfather.“I’ve always had a strong imagination as a kid and I loved to depict my ideas on paper by copying my favorite cartoons and environments (free-hand) when I was in elementary school,” Provenza recalls. Through the late 1980’s and early 1990’s Provenza focused on his painting technique using oils. He was also passionate about developing a unique style different from any other artist. “It’s important to me to have my own style so I first began to develop it through relentless practice and study of traditional styles, mainly influenced by the old masters, as a foundation,” Provenza explains. “I studied Seraut for his pointillistic approach and Michelangelo for his use of color, light and depth.” During this period, Provenza produced several traditional oil paintings which exhibited in art galleries and shows around the country. “I was accepted into The Art Show Gallery in Carmel, California by loading paintings into my car and going door-to-door to as many galleries as possible in one day.” Provenza recalls.

Provenza’s career has encompassed many different fields in the art industry. In addition to oil painting, the artist has also created a number of 3D environments for video games, illustrated book covers and greeting cards, painted sculptures for museums, and painted residential and commercial murals. Provenza worked directly with Disney and Sony, as well as actors such as Kirk Cameron, to create art for Xbox and PlayStation video games including Dungeons & Dragons, Buck Rogers, Jurassic Park, The Horde, Walt Disney World Magical Racing Tour, Mad Dash Racing, just to name a few. The process required pixel painting, hand-illustration and sketching for backgrounds which were scanned in order to produce 2D/3D environments and animations. “The animated and 3D experience combined with my traditional oil painting foundation, was a tremendous jumping off point in further developing ‘my style’ that I’m passionate about because it flowed naturally in sequence with my imagination to create,” explains Provenza. “I could not wait to start painting full-time with my new vision for oil paintings.”

In 2000, Michael Provenza began to integrate his concepts from the virtual worlds he personally created for video games into his oil paintings which was the beginning of Life’s Journey. The new body of work is a blend of Provenza’s new vision and distinct style with his original subject matter [nature] creating these surreal environments combined with realistic and traditional painting techniques, ultimately bringing his work to life. Even though Provenza discovered his unique style later in his fine arts career, the subject of the artist’s work has not changed, which continues to be his constant source of inspiration. In 2004, Provenza also adapted his landscapes to large scale murals for a special project at King’s City theme park in Eilat, Israel near the Red Sea where he traveled to paint the 150 feet x 20 feet murals. “The size, scope and depth of composition in the murals made me feel as if I could walk right into the scenery, which further developed my dimensional painting abilities,” the artist says. Provenza’s work was also seen on television. He was honored to participate in painting a mural for the 2009 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in Toledo, Ohio in the little boy’s train room. “It was great to be able to help people in need, especially in my local community where I currently live,” explains Provenza.

In 2013, Michael Provenza’s art was chosen for one of the Hawaii 5-0 set designs. And his art was showcased in American Art Collector Magazine, September. In 2016, Provenza officially became licensed to create Disney characters in his paintings. The Acme Gallery at Disney Town Shanghai is proud to announce The Art of Michael Provenza currently in exhibition at the gallery. Michael is a celebrated international artist known for his unique style of interpreting licensed characters. Today, Michael Provenza is a highly collectible artist, both nationally and internationally. His truly original oil paintings and limited editions are represented by some of the most prominent and respected galleries in North America, the Hawaiian Islands and Asia.