The American painter Michael Reafsnyder is best known for painterly abstractions that convey a sense of delirious happiness. While appearing as spontaneous gestural painting, his works are meticulously crafted to convey this sense.

Born in 1969 in Orange, CA, Reafsnyder currently lives and works Southern California. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in studio art at Chapman University in Orange, CA in 1992 and his Master of Fine Arts degree at the Arts Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA in 1996. He has had numerous exhibitions internationally, including venues such as Miles McEnery Gallery, New York; Ameringer | McEnery | Yohe, New York, NY; R.B. Stevenson Gallery, La Jolla, CA; Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Culver City, CA; R.B. Stevenson Gallery, La Jolla, CA; Marty Walker Gallery, Dallas, Texas; Rebecca Ibel Gallery, Columbus, OH; and Western Project, Culver City, CA. His work may be found in the permanent collections of the Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH; Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA; Las Vegas Art Museum, Las Vegas, NV; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR; and Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA, among others.

To create his densely filled, colorful compositions, the artist uses a full inventory of application techniques, such as dragging and piling the acrylic paint or scraping it straight from the tube onto the canvas. His works often incorporate a “smiley face” symbol.

Featured image: Michael Reafsnyder - Glacial Play, 2018 (detail). Acrylic on linen. 60 × 52 in. 152.4 × 132.1 cm. Photo courtesy Miles McEnery Gallery