The Humble and Sublime by El Mac

Born in Los Angeles in 1980 to an engineer and an artist, Mac has been creating and studying art independently since childhood. Raised primarily in Phoenix, he drew inspiration from the surrounding Mexican & Chicano culture of the American Southwest, religious art, pin-up art, graffiti, and a wide range of classic artists such as Caravaggio, Mucha, and Vermeer.

He began painting canvases as well as graffiti around 1994. He has since worked consistently toward mastering his unique portrait style. In the late 90s he began to paint large technicolor aerosol versions of classic old paintings by European masters. This led to being commissioned in 2003 by the Groeninge Museum in Brugge, Belgium to paint his interpretations of classic Flemish Primitive paintings in the museum's collection. He has since been commissioned to paint his distinctive murals across the US, as well as in Mexico, Denmark, Sweden, Canada, South Korea, Belgium, Italy, The Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Spain and France. Many of these murals have become mini-landmarks, especially his collaborations with Retna, and have been featured in a number of music videos and publications.

In 2007 he had his first solo show, in Montreal, Canada. In 2008 he created a 100+ foot wide mural for an installation at the Denver Botanic Gardens, as well as participated in the Manifest Hope art show during the DNC in Denver. He has painted large murals during Art Basel in the Wynwood district of Miami the last three years in a row beginning in 2007. 2009 brought a show with Retna at the Robert Berman Gallery at the Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, along with the publication of “Alianza”, a book about Mac & Retna’s artwork published by Upper Playground/Gingko Press, a Juxtapoz magazine cover feature, as well as the production of a limited edition Spanish Montana spraycan with their artwork on it. Mac continues to focus on painting murals around the globe, painting photorealistic canvases, and evolving his unique rendering style. When not traveling, he spends a considerable amount of time in Los Angeles, and resides primarily in downtown Phoenix, in an old house filled with records, books and art.

The Humble and Sublime by El Mac at Joshua Liner Gallery
October 14 to November 6, 2010