Elizabeth Street (The Met Series) Painting

This artwork is one of a collection of paintings named ‘The Met Series.' The Met Series portray large brightly coloured vessels, with characters and patterns covering the surface. Each figure is unique, yet they all fit together in disorganised harmony. The figures are characters Michael calls ‘Friends on Bowery.' Which he started in 2011 when he decided to try his hand at drawing. He had just moved to NYC and was struggling to continue his fashion label ‘Stiegler’, despite having the likes of Kate Moss and Chrissy Teigen wearing it. He began working in a retail store in Soho where, to make ends meet and began drawing on receipt paper when the store was quiet. The characters were inspired by the people and faces he would see on his way to and from work. Walking from Soho, down the Bowery to his flat on The Lower East Side. Michael claims he has never drawn the same face twice, possibly drawing tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of faces over the last decade.