Michael Bogdanow

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My themes are centered on humans and our relationships with each other, the earth and the universe. Many of my paintings and sculptures are also inspired by Judaic themes. Music, dance, and the sky are also sources of inspiration for my art. All of these themes integrate and overlap with each other – they are not distinct categories. Many of my artworks have a dream-like, fantasy aspect, using art to convey the impossible, or at least the improbable, like actors flying from the stage to the sky or people holding globes larger than themselves. For decades, I used painting to convey this type of imagery, because I found it too difficult to convey the impossible in sculpture, as it is governed by laws of physics and gravity. Around 2021, I returned to sculpture and have come up with ways to capture the dreamlike quality that I’ve been painting since the 1980s. I’ve been building sculptures from semi-precious stone chips, wood, paintings, motors, and more. It’s very exciting! In the early 1970s, I studied with Peter Grippe at Brandeis University where I received my undergraduate degree in studio art, focusing primarily on sculpture. I then studied painting and sculpture at Columbia University’s School of the Arts, and received a Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting and Sculpture. After two years as a high school art teacher, I went to Harvard Law School where I received a law degree in 1984. Since the 1980s, I have maintained careers in art (my current studio is at Gorse Mill Studios in Needham, MA) and law (at Meehan, Boyle, Black & Bogdanow in Boston). During that time, I have also been performing music (primarily on the piano) in a variety of settings, written books on law, art, and Judaism, and provided art for numerous covers of books and recordings. If you have any questions, you can reach me at [email protected].