Mike Davis (artist)

Mike Davis (born 1961), is an American self-taught painter whose work is associated with Surrealism, Low Brow, Renaissance, and Flemish Primitives. He is also a tattoo artist, woodworker and a member of the band, Bad Lemon. Mr. Davis is a veteran of twelve solo exhibitions and 29 group exhibitions. His work can be found in museums and private collections around the world. He currently lives and works in San Francisco.
== Life ==
Born in Jacksonville, Florida, he was raised in Ohio. As a boy, he would watch and learn from his mother's artistic endeavors. At a young age he began as a theater scenery painter and would soon be producing theater posters, costumes and sets. Influenced by Renaissance Mannerism, Van Eyck, Pieter Brueghel and Robert Williams, he began painting on canvas in the late 1990s. His work is symbolic and autobiographical and filled with puzzles and codification.
Mike began tattooing friends which would eventually lead to opening his own tattoo shop, Everlasting Tattoo in San Francisco. Mike Davis is internationally-renowned as a tattoo artist and has tattooed several celebrities. 
== Career ==
Mike Davis' paintings are in the permanent collection of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, often featured in magazines such as Juxtapoz Magazine, Hi-Fructose, Art Ltd., and in art books such as Pop Surrealism: The Rise of Underground Art., Tatt Book: Visionaries of Tattoo, and Beyond Tattoo
In 2008, the Laguna Art Museum presented In the Land of Retinal Delights: The Juxtapoz Factor. This exhibit showcased the underground art movement that had been taking place for 40 years. Among the 150 participating artists were Mike Davis, Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, Ray Caesar, Dalek, Ron English, Shepard Fairey, The Date Farmers, AJ Fosik, Camille Rose Garcia, Doze Green, Alex Gross, Jim Houser, Chris Mars, Mark Ryden, SHAG, Jeff Soto, Mark Dean Veca, Adam Wallacavage, and Eric White.
Mike Davis' book, "A Blind Man's Journey", published in 2014 by San Francisco-based Last Gasp, is reminiscent of antique gold-embossed hard covered books of earlier centuries and contains over a hundred pages. 
In 2013, Mike was one of the featured artists in the second annual Paris exhibition presented by HEY! Modern Art & Pop Culture museum and Halle Saint Pierre. This exhibit is dedicated to ‘outsider’ art, lowbrow art, pop surrealism, street art, tattoo art, and art without a label. Out of this exhibit, came an embossed 312 page hardcover book in which Mike Davis is featured.
Solo Exhibitions
* "Crooked as a Dog's Hind Leg" // 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco, CA. January 2020
* "Fate of the Union", Spoke Art // New York, NY. September 2018
* "Forks in the Road" // 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco, CA. November 2017
* "Memories and Maladies" // Galerie Matthew Namour, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. September 2017
* "Ghosts of the Future" // Copro Gallery, Santa Monica, Ca. May 7, 2016
* "A Blind Man's Journey Continues", book signing & solo show // Copro Gallery, Santa Monica, CA. March 2015
* "A Blind Man's Journey", book release and solo show // 111 Minna Gallery San Francisco, CA. October 2014
* "New Works" // Varnish Fine Art, San Francisco, CA. March 2013
* "Oil and Water" // C.A.V.E. Gallery, Venice, CA. October 2011
* "Stories From the Other Side of the Bridge" // Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, NY. May 2009
* "Solo Flight" // White Walls, San Francisco, CA. March 2008
* "Mike Davis and Mike Giant" // White Walls, San Francisco, CA. August 2007
Group Shows
2018
* 111 Minna Gallery 25th Anniversary, San Francisco, CA.
2017
* "Juxtaposed", Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, Indiana
* "TATTOO", Chicago Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois
* "HEY! Gallery Show", Galerie Arts Factory, Paris, France
2016
* "Tattoos: Ritual, Identity, Obsession, Art", Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada
* "Last Gasp Publishing 46th Anniversary Show", 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2015
* "Troika", with Shawn Barber and Jean Laboudette (Turf One), Yves Laroche Galerie De Arte Montréal, Canada
2015
* "The Garden of Fernal Delights", Bash Contemporary Gallery, San Francisco, CA
* "20 Years Under the Influence of Juxtapoz", Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
* "Portraits of Strangers, Someones, and Nobodys", 111 Minna Gallery San Francisco, CA 
2014
* "Tatoueurs, Tatoués Exposition", Musée Du Quai Branly Paris, France 
2013
* "HEY! part 2 Art & Pop Culture Exhibition", La Halle St Pierre Paris, France
2008
* "The Master Cleanse", Studio GSD, San Francisco, CA
* "Blood Royale", Galerie d'art Yves Laroche, Montreal, Canada
* "In the Land of Retinal Delights: The Juxtapoz Factor", Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA
* "Locked and Loaded", Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, NY
2006
* "We'll Make A Lover Of You", curated by Francesco Lo Castro Art Basel- Art Center, South Florida
2007
* "All Star Hustlaz 2", White Walls, San Francisco, CA 
* "Young Guns", Chester's Blacksmith Shop, Sundance Film Festival
2005
* "Secret Bedtime Stories", with Henry Lewis and Brian Randolph, White Walls, San Francisco, CA
* "Bergamot Invasion w/Cannibal Flower", Copro Nason Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
* "Everything But The Kitschen Sync", at La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 
* "Juxtapoz Magazine presents: The Eye of the Illuminati", Copro Nason Gallery at Track 16 Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2004
* "Age of Aquarius: Summer Solstice Group Show", Copro Nason Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
* "Juxtapoz Art Magazine: 10th Anniversary Art Show", 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco, CA
* "Everything But The Kitschen Sync", La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2003
* Group Show at Copro Nason Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
* Group Show at Lit Gallery, New York, NY
* "Sci-fi Western", 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Category:1961 births
Category:20th-century American painters
Category:American male painters