Michael St. Amand

     迈克尔·圣·阿曼德(1958年5月12日)，美国画家、数字艺术家。

    当迈克尔还是个小男孩的时候，他经常画周围的一切——户外、房间和人。他还借鉴漫画创作了自己的漫画。圣阿芒基本上是自学成才，后来在纽约艺术学生联盟(Art Students League of New York)学习，著名艺术家如罗伯特·劳森伯格(Robert Rauschenberg)、杰克逊·波拉克(Jackson Pollack)、乔治亚·奥基夫(Georgia O’keefe)、马克·罗斯科(Mark Rothko)、罗伊·利希滕斯坦(Roy Lichtenstein)、海伦·弗兰肯塞勒(Helen Frankenthaler)，甚至艾未未都曾经在那里学习。

    在上世纪70年代中期，阿曼德遇到了被艺术史学家公认为美国现代艺术的奠基贡献者——格特鲁德•巴勒（Gertrude Barrer）。克莱门特•格林伯格（Clement Greenberg 20世纪下半叶美国最重要的艺术批评家，也是该时期西方最重要的艺术批评家之一）在1946年评价格特鲁德•巴勒为美国最重要的先锋艺术家之一。作为导师，巴勒给予阿曼德全新的视野和指导。阿曼德试着用原始的，充满活力的色彩、织物、几何形状、图片以及其他自然艺术品和表现主义进行艺术创作。他让抽象和现实的主题在和谐的环境和空间内完美共存，使每件作品都相得益彰。

    1991年，阿曼德搬到了佛罗里达西南地区，在迈尔斯堡定居。在那里他受到当地艺术社区的认可和追捧，并成为了罗伯特•劳森伯格（Robert Rauschenberg）、劳伦斯•葛福德（Laurence Getford声波组合乐队成员，佛罗里达州艺术协会理事会成员）、劳伦斯•沃伊泰克（Lawrence Voytek声波组合乐队成员，著名视觉艺术家）以及艾美奖获奖者凯特•伊普尔（Kat Epple格莱美提名作曲家，数字协调员，世界长笛演奏家）的一生挚友。

    上世纪90年代末，阿曼德只身闯荡到正在发展高新科技的西雅图，在那里，他的数字艺术和编程技能得到了充分施展。1996年，他获得了3D数字动画的科立尔奖，当时3D动画还处于起步阶段。1997年，他为福禄克公司发明了“虚拟仪器”并且在微软网络中，使用推送技术参与了第一批微软频道开发。他的数字技术被运用于RT Mark装置，于2000年在惠特尼双年展亮相。

    阿曼德1999年回到佛罗里达西南部，专注绘画，并持续在美国和海外进行画展。2008年，凯特•伊普尔、劳伦斯•沃伊泰克和阿曼德合作推出一个名为“和平与火焰”的项目，该项目是为了致敬约翰•凯奇（John Cage美国先锋派古典音乐作曲家，勋伯格的学生，著名实验音乐视觉艺术家）、摩斯•肯宁汉（Merce Cunningham美国舞蹈家、编导，风格抽象，编舞新颖，是最有影响、最受争议的当代舞领袖人物之一）和罗伯特•劳森伯格（Robert Rauschenberg）于50年代创造的艺术“奇迹”。罗伯特•劳森伯格出席了开幕式，并兴奋不已，他说这个项目仿佛回到了他以前表演的旧时光。

    阿曼德的当代互动艺术装置“虚荣的奴隶” 于2010年展出。阿曼德为人们提供了一个令人激动又引人回味的视角来审视社会对年轻美貌痴迷的现象。阿曼德设计了一个定制的梳妆台，里面有皮革手铐和镜子——这些东西是整个装置的灵感来源。为了促使观众审视虚荣的奴隶的含义，他还提供了多功能部件。互动装置周围则是画作和雕塑，描绘着人们所感知到的美丽与完善的一面。

    2012年1月，欧洲视觉艺术杂志《视觉心跳》以阿曼德的画作“Mundata奏鸣曲8”为封面，并刊登了他关于作品的封面故事。同年他受格鲁吉亚文化部邀请，出席位于格鲁吉亚共和国首都第比利斯的格鲁吉亚国家博物馆、沙尔瓦美术博物馆和国家画廊展览，在“刺点国际展”上展示他的多媒体绘画、数字艺术和视频装置。自格鲁吉亚脱离前苏联独立以来，阿曼德是第一个在格鲁吉亚国家博物馆展示绘画作品的美国艺术家。

    2013年，阿曼德举办了三场重要的个人博物馆展览，展示他的作品:“人类境况：神话与混乱”。这些博物馆包括格鲁吉亚国家博物馆、格鲁吉亚第比利斯历史博物馆和格鲁吉亚共和国塔那吉博物馆。迈克尔是第一个在西格纳吉博物馆举办个展的美国人。最后一个非格鲁吉亚人参加展览的是巴勃罗·毕加索(Pablo Picasso)。由于他的展览获得成功，阿曼德来到格鲁吉亚，参加在格鲁吉亚第比利斯的格鲁吉亚国家博物馆举行的“反穿刺针国际II”活动，由美国国务院赞助。他后来在2014年成为美国版《小刺探》的导演。

    2015年，St. Amand的两幅画作入选Studio Visit第25卷，艺术家现在纽约2015！展出Factory-Arts项目。在经历了一场家庭火灾后，这位艺术家搬到了佛罗里达州中部，在那里他继续创作混合媒介绘画和组合。

    2017年，这位艺术家搬到中国北京，在义格教育集团和Hurtwood House的HD北京学校开始为期两年的艺术实习。在那里你可以找到他的绘画，创作组合，甚至有时教一门课。与儿童和成人一起工作给了他极大的快乐。

Michael St. Amand (May 12, 1958) born in Danbury, CT, an American painter/digital artist.

As a young boy Michael constantly drew everything around him -- outdoors, rooms, and people. He also drew from comics and created his own. Essentially self-taught, St. Amand later studied at The Art Students League of New York where famous artists like Robert Rauschenberg, Jackson Pollack, Georgia O’Keefe, Mark Rothko, Roy Lichtenstein, Helen Frankenthaler, and even Ai Weiwei attended classes and workshops during their careers.

In the mid 1970s, he met artist Gertrude Barrer, credited by art historians as being a leading contributor to American Modern Art and considered one of America’s most important avant-garde artists. As a mentor, Barrer gave St. Amand advice and encouragement that led St. Amand to experiment with the use of raw, vibrant colors, fabric, photos and other found objects, geometric shapes and expressionistic movement. The results of his experimentation created a setting for real and abstract subjects to exist harmoniously within each piece of work.

St. Amand moved to Southwest Florida settling in Fort Myers. Shortly after his arrival, the artist was heavily involved in the arts community, and became lifelong friends with Robert Rauschenberg, Laurence Getford, Lawrence Voytek, and Kat Epple, Emmy Award winning recording artist.

Later, St. Amand ventured to Seattle, Washington where high-tech innovations were developing. His digital art and programming skills were in great demand. While there, he won a Corel award for 3D digital animation, when 3D animation was in its infancy; invented “Virtual Instruments” for Fluke Corporation; and developed one of the first Microsoft Channels using push technologies. St. Amand was a pioneer and visionary of some of the technologies now used every day.

Tired of the hectic high-tech industry, the artist moved back to Southwest Florida, and in 2008, Epple, Voytek, and St. Amand collaboratively produced “Peace and Flambe'” which was a homage to the 1950s “Happenings” that John Cage, Merce Cunningham, and Robert Rauschenberg created. Rauschenberg attended the opening and was elated. He stated that it took him back to the times of his old performances. “Peace and Flambe” was so successful, it became an annual event.

St. Amand’s 2010 “Slave to Vanity” offered a stirring and evocative look at society’s obsession with a flawless and youthful appearance. Multiple functional pieces were made to engage the viewers in exposing what it means to be a vanity slave. Surrounding the interactive works were paintings and sculptures depicting aspects of perceived beauty and perfection. s

In 2012, St. Amand’s painting “Mundata Sonata 8” was published on the cover of the contemporary art magazine “Visual ArtBeat” and included a cover story about the artist. Later that year, St. Amand was invited by the Georgian Ministry of Culture to exhibit his mixed media paintings, digital art, and video installations in the “Punctum Contra Punctum International Exhibition” at The Georgian National Museum in Tbilisi, the capitol city of The Republic of Georgia. St. Amand was the first American artist to exhibit paintings in The Georgia National Museum since the country gained independence from the Soviet Union.

Michael St. Amand had three major solo museum exhibitions in 2013 showcasing his project: Human Condition: “Myths and Mayhem”. The museums included The National Museum of Georgia, The Tbilisi History Museum of  Georgia, and The Signagi Museum of The Republic of Georgia. Michael was the first American to have a solo exhibition at the Signagi Museum. The last non-Georgian to exhibit at the Signagi was Pablo Picasso. Due to the success of his exhibition, St. Amand returned to Georgia sponsored by The U.S. Department of State to participate in Punctum Contra Punctum International II at the Georgian National Museum in Tbilisi, Georgia. He later became the Director for the American version of Punctum Contra Punctum in 2014.

During 2015, two of St. Amand’s paintings were selected for publication in Studio Visit Volume 25 and the artist exhibited in New York Now 015! by Factory-Arts Project. After surviving a house fire, the artist moved to Central Florida where he continued to create mixed media paintings and combines.

In 2017, the artist moved to Beijing, China to begin a two-year art residency at EliteK12 and Hurtwood House’s HD Beijing School. There you can find him painting, creating combines, and even teaching a class on occasion. Working with children and adults gives him great pleasure and joy.