Michael Vasquez’s gestural multimedia paintings depict the vibrant and aggressive energy found in the artist’s urban neighborhood. Born in  St. Petersburg, Florida, and raised by a single mother,  Vasquez portrays friends and acquaintances affiliated with various street gangs of Miami—at once capturing the established codes, hierarchies, and social dynamics inherent to gang culture and examining larger issues of identity, community, ritual, and the ill-conceived stereotypes that  inform popular perception of  urban youth today. Trained as a painter at South Florida’s  acclaimed New World School of the Arts, Vasquez has exhibited widely in the United  States. This is his first solo museum exhibition.   

Above, left: Smurf, 2005; mixed media on canvas, 36 x 24 inches, Collection of Andrew Reed, Miami, FL