Mikey Welsh is a self-taught artist based in Burlington, VT. Mikey's mother, who is a classically-trained painter, immersed him in art from a young age. Starting with watercolors and collage, Mikey continued to work on art until the age of 19, at which point he started his music career. At the age of 30, after suffering a nervous breakdown, he dedicated himself to painting full-time. Since 2001, Mikey has had several successful solo exhibitions, selling his work to collectors and working private commissions.

Welsh attacks his canvases with pure spontaneity and aggression, almost never using a brush and preferring to work only with his hands and fingers. This technique gives him the opportunity to get as close and "inside" to his paintings as he needs to be. For him, this is a necessity. Welsh also works in sculpture, working with found objects. Constructing creatures out of broken and dismantled chairs and furniture, to vacuum hoses, tupperware, wire, and rope. All painted with his usual explosion of color.

The Boston Globe has called Welsh's artwork "manic, edgy, and masculine...Welsh handles his brush confidently, and his paintings read as if he sliced open a metaphorical vein and poured blood and soul onto the canvas."

Boston Magazine has said, "Many are astonishing. Not only for their subject matter - a crucified bull with a giant phallus, a life-size pope melting in the fires of hell - but also for their beauty and power. Influenced by abstract expressionists like Jackson Pollock and early pop artists like Robert Rauschenberg, Welsh turns oils, acrylics, house paint, brush-stroked words, and pages torn from newspapers or porn mags into images that seduce the eye and ignite the mind."

Most recently, Burlington's Seven Days newspaper has called Welsh a "prodigious and prolific painter."

Mikey Welsh's artistic voice is innovative and powerful, personal and universal. His works are colorful, instinctive, and expressive, like Mikey's life itself. Before his studio art era, Mikey Welsh experienced remarkable success playing bass guitar in the rock band Weezer. Since leaving the music industry, Mikey has devoted his passions and energy towards his love of creating visual art. From sculptures and collages to paintings and drawings, Mikey does them all with a unique and original style. Mikey has recently completed designs for the 2009 Burton Farm line of snowboards, as well as Gordini's Winter 2010 goggles line. -- FUSE Marketing
     Exhibitions:
2002solo exhibitionParadise Rock ClubBoston, MA
2003group exhibitionZeitgeist GalleryCambridge, MA
2004solo exhibitionThe Gallery at OpalineBurlington, VT
2004solo exhibitionAvanti GalleryBoston, MA
2004solo exhibition47 Sanctuary GalleryBurlington, VT
2005collaborative exhibition47 Sanctuary GalleryBurlington, VT
2005solo exhibitionAmy E. Tarrant GalleryBurlington, VT
2006solo exhibitionThe Gallery at Screen ArtsSt Augustine, FL
2006group exhibition"Shining Dunces" - various venuesAsheville, NC
2006group exhibitionDarkside SnowboardsStowe, VT
2007solo exhibition47 Sanctuary GalleryBurlington, VT
2007group exhibitionBRIK GalleryCatskill, NY
2007solo exhibitionParadise Rock ClubBoston, MA
2008group exhibitionPursuit GalleryBurlington, VT
2008group exhibitionBurton Flagship StoreBurlington, VT
2008solo exhibitionMontanaro GalleryNewport, RI
2009solo exhibitionSnowboard ConnectionSeattle, WA
2009solo exhibitionThe WinchesterGrand Rapids, MI
2009solo exhibitionFrontside FoundationsBurlington, VT

     Live Painting Events:
2008Burton Flagship StoreBurlington, VT
2008Burton Flagship StoreNew York, NY
2009Winter Dew TourMount Snow, West Dover VT
2009Agence André DallaireMontreal, QC
2009Rail Jam 2009Grand Rapids, MI

     Public Murals:
2006JDK officesBurlington, VT
2008Copley Consolidated officesBurlington, VT
2009MavenBurlington, VT
2009Frontside FoundationsBurlington, VT