Michael Pfleghaar

Illustrator, painter and ceramicist Michael Pfleghaar creates vibrant, Hockneyesque Still Life works. Michael looks to modernist design, architecture, and interiors to inspire his multicoloured abstract paintings, prints, and constructions.

Michael Pfleghaar’s Style

Michael received his MFA in Visual Arts from Lesley University College of Art and Design in 2011. He often centres his practice on documenting his life. Using inanimate objects as surrogates for figures, Michael creates archaeological dialogues between scenes, settings, and objects. Exploring elements of self-reflection and materiality, the artist applies flat space, simple, clean lines, and balanced yet bold colours to his works. The resulting compositions present an almost cartoonish orderliness, hum with a unique personality, and are optically satisfying.

Press, Commissions and Exhibitions

Arcadia Magazine, Studio Visit, Metropolitan Home, Solace, and American Craft have featured his work. Leading organisations such as Apple, ForeSee, Hayworth, Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, and Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park are among the many to have purchased or commissioned Michael's illustrative artwork. You can find his original artworks in permanent collections, including the Grand Rapids Art Museum, Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Steelcase IncHerman Miller, the State of Michigan and Grand Valley State University.