David Michalek

Biography

David Michalek was born and raised in California. He lives and works in New York City. Michalek’s body of work ranges from photography and films, to architectural installations and works of public art. His focus over the past ten years has been closely tied to his interest in relational aesthetics, performance techniques, storytelling, dialogue, and movement. Additionally, much of his work is based on the representation of the body—in the medium of photography and film, this focus often depends upon the construction of expressive gestures that can function as emblems or metaphors. While earning a B.A. in English Literature from U.C.L.A., Michalek worked as an assistant to noted photographer Herb Ritts. Beginning in the mid-1990s, he began his professional photographic career working as a portrait artist for publications such as The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Interview, and Vogue. Concurrently, Michalek began to delve into performance, installation, and multi-disciplinary projects. Since giving up commercial photography in 1999, his work has been shown nationally and internationally with recent public art and solo exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum, the LA Music Center, The Cleveland Museum, Harvard University, Sadler's Wells, Trafalgar Square, Opera Bastille, Venice Biennale, Yale University, The Kitchen, Lincoln Center and the Edinburgh Festival.