Michael Kalish

Who is Michael Kalish?

Michael Kalish is an internationally acclaimed sculptor and mixed-media artist based in Los Angeles, California. Born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1973, his art career began with a single, chance encounter: a South Dakota license plate glimpsed from a moving car set off an obsession that would redefine contemporary American sculpture. Out of that obsession, Kalish created an entirely new genre, elevating the lowly and overlooked into works of national consequence, and earning a place in the collections of world leaders, Fortune 100 companies, past U.S. Presidents, professional athletes, and musicians.

His earliest works assembled vintage American license plates into sculptural flags and iconic portraits, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Mickey Mouse, Jimi Hendrix, Audrey Hepburn, each piece carrying the layered histories of the roads and lives it passed through. These works drew immediate comparisons to the pop masters Warhol and Lichtenstein, but Kalish's medium was entirely his own: raw, patinated, and unmistakably American. 

In 2014, Kalish expanded his practice into laser-cut aluminum and acrylic, developing a signature series of multi-dimensional wall and standing sculptures. With depths ranging from 5 to 12 inches, these works withhold their image until the viewer discovers the precise vantage point where abstraction resolves into clarity. His roses, both framed and freestanding, are built from reclaimed automobile parts; their unexpected voluptuousness led to solo exhibitions in Stockholm, Geneva, Los Angeles, and New York. His large-scale abstracts, assembled from recycled 1950s and '60s classic car components, carry the weight and authority of genuine American history.

Kalish's monumental public installations have cemented his legacy as one of the defining public artists of his generation. His AIA Sculpture of the Year Award-winning reALIze, a two-story, 360-degree portrait of Muhammad Ali composed of five miles of stainless steel cable and 1,300 suspended boxing speed bags, was personally commissioned by Muhammad and Lonnie Ali and debuted at Nokia Plaza, L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles. Additional landmark works include Raise the Caliber, a monumental sculpture assembled from reclaimed firearms designed as a statement against gun violence; Illuminating a Path, a tribute to education as a child's foundation; and a series of 20-foot floral bloom sculptures continuously commissioned by cities across the United States.

Kalish's work is held in the permanent collections of the United States Embassy in Moscow, the Ford Motor Company, the Coca-Cola Corporation, the Tampa Museum of Art, and the Pratt Sculpture Garden, among many others. He has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, Art in America, ArtNews, People Magazine, and Wired, and profiled on CBS Sunday Morning and CNN - making him one of the few sculptors who commands equal standing in the fine art world and mainstream American culture.