Tate Britain

Alan Michael is a painter who lives and works in Glasgow. He is interested in the idea of things colliding and works a puzzling and eclectic array of imagery into his canvases, with references drawn from both high and low culture. Text, clothing, plants, cars and figures appropriated from art historical and media sources are grouped, repeated or reflected in his compositions with apparent indifference.

Sometimes reminiscent of the cool, slick finish of advertising, his painterly style, like his artistic intentions, is hard to pin down. Using a seemingly impenetrable and private language to skew the familiar, his paintings are impersonal yet beguiling and goad the viewer to disentangle a narrative of connections. For his Art Now exhibition the artist will present new paintings, not seen before in London.