Armchair Sociology Painting

Aaron Michel Poirier (29) is a midwest American painter who exhibits primarily in Cleveland, OH and Chicago, IL. His work began to develop a cacophonic expressionist style when he moved to out of rural Ohio to Chicago, IL to attend The School of the Art Institute of Chicago: "Experimentation itself is the cornerstone of my work, but although I introduce different materials and subjects, my process is consistent. At the canvas, I maintain a performance of vulnerability, existential philosophy, and political irreverence in what I can only akin to active meditation. This process is meant to achieve a place of spiritual nudity in the work, to rely on improvisation, stream of consciousness, muscle memory, and freedom. It contrasts images of my rural Ohio upbringing with contemporary ideas in millennial internet culture and urban media." He has sighted influences of contemporary expressionists such as Eddie Martinez, Jonathan Meese, Jonni Cheatwood, Miranda July, and Austyn Weiner in exploring the tension between meaning and mark-making.