Michael Staniak’s practice concerns the changing dynamics of creative processes in light of the proliferation of social and digital media. His paintings and sculptures explore the relationship between traditional methods and new technologies. Process is as much a focus of his work as outcome. Through unique applications of colour and manipulation of mediums, Staniak deliberately disrupts the visual cues that help distinguish digital and traditional image production. His works often utilise textures with a trompe-l’œil effect that manipulate the viewer’s depth perception. The resulting hypnotic surfaces act as a visual portal to a post-digital world, one in which we interact both physically and virtually, and reflect on the implications of such an existence.

Staniak has exhibited extensively internationally, including at The Hole, New York (2021); The Unit Gallery, London (2020); Galerie Clemens Gunzer, Kitzbühel (2019); Arts and Cultural Centre of Newfoundland, Canada (2019); Eduardo Secci Gallery, Florence (2018); Achenbach Hagemeier, Dusseldorf (2018); Pearl Lam Galleries, Hong Kong (2018); Steve Turner Contemporary, Los Angeles (2018); Museum of Contemporary Art, St. Louis (2015); Annarunna Gallery, Naples (2015); La Bibi Gallery, Mallorca (2015); and Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna (2015). In 2017, the Museum of Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis, published an artist monograph of Staniak’s practice.

Michael Staniak

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