Michael Goro

My art is a continuous creative search for raw authenticity in urban environments and human forms that are constantly changing. Individuals change as they experience life and cities develop and/or decay through time. People and places have history and experience. Cities are weathered by time and through use, taking on a personality of their own from the people and the elements that have interacted with them. It is a combination of all of these factors that creates authenticity.

Looking for subject matter I find simple things that we see every day, things that become symbolic once they are taken out of context. I experiment with the juxtaposition of places, faces, and architectural designs that reflect my diverse personal experiences. My story is a vivid illustration of the end of the last century - a time of deconstruction, discontinuity, and dislocation.

I find that black-and-white prints convey contradictory images better than any other medium by reducing them to the most basic color contrast. My work provides the full spectrum of techniques ranging from renaissance engraving to digital photogravure.

University of Illinois
Urbana-Champaign, MFA
May 1999

AWARDS

Guanlan International Print Prize [top prize]
2nd Guanlan International Print Biennial, Guanlan Print Original Industry Base, Shenzhen, China 2009

London Print Studio Award
7th Royal West of England Academy Open Print Exhibition
Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, UK, 2009

Purchase Prize
15th SPACE Internaional Print Biennial_Seoul
Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea, 2009

Fourth Prize
The 7th Kochi International Triennial Exhibition of Prints
Ino-cho Paper Museum, Ino-cho Kochi-ken, Japan, 2007

Excellent Prize
The 14th Seoul_Space International Print Biennial
Seoul Museum of Art in Seoul, Korea, 2006

First Prize
Notes From Underground International Art Exhibition
London, UK, 1999

Special Recognition Award
Watermark 99, Studio 107, Whiteville, North Carolina, 1999

Special Prize
6800 works from 79 countries were submitted for the show
International Print Triennial in Kanagawa‘98, Kanagawa Arts Foundation,
Yokohama, Japan, 1998

Juror’s Award
19th Annual National Print Competition at Artlink
Artlink Contemporary Art Gallery, Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1990

Honorary Membership
Los Angeles Printmaking Society, Los Angeles, California, 1998

Juror’s Award
18th Annual National Pri...