For over twenty years, Michael Alfano has created fine art sculptures that are figurative-based, surreal, philosophical, and evocative. He cites his major influences as Salvador Dali, Jo Davidson, and Jean-Antoine Houdon, as well as Buddhist, Taoist, Sufi, and other eastern philosophy and literature. A native of New York, Michael now lives and works in Hopkinton, Massachusetts.
“Great art engages, generates discussion, and brings about change. Infusing the everyday with the surreal, my art compels viewers to experience, think, and understand life more fully.”
Public Art
Michael’s public art dots the East Coast of the United States. A headline described him as a “Sculptor with a Conscience” for works including:
• Peace Offering, a functional bronze bench at Newburyport, MA and other collections.
• Cubed, a sculptural puzzle in nine pieces, each in a different skin tone that forms a ten-times life size male face on one side and an inverted female face on the other side.
• Journey, at the Zion Heritage Museum in Hyannis, MA, which commemorates contributions of African-Americans and Cape Verdeans on Cape Cod.
• One World United for Peace—September 11th Memorial, at Town Hill in Norfolk, MA, which was commissioned by the town, with a second casting in Clifton, NJ.
• The Holocaust Monument at the Jericho Jewish Center, on Long Island, exemplifying Michael’s talent in an expressive and meaningful memorial.
• Ethics of Peace at Georgetown University in Washington DC.
• The Starter—George V. Brown at the start line of the Boston Marathon in Hopkinton, MA.
• Five bronze life-size animals for the Boston Museum of Science.
Portrait Commissions
Institutions and patrons have commissioned portrait busts and full figures from Michael. His portraits include Nobel Peace Laureate Anwar Sadat, Economics Nobel laureate Milton Friedman, Indian Parliament Member O. P. Jindal, Bollywood superstar Rajinikanth, and Senator Edward Kennedy, which was exhibited in Senator John Kerry’s office in Washington DC.
Galleries, Collections, Awards, and Publications
Michael exhibits at select galleries along the East Coast including Boston’s Newbury St., the Berkshires, and New York’s Seventh Avenue. Private collections around the world include his limited editions in the Buhl Collection, the Harvard Museum of Natural History, and other venues. He has received over 60 awards at art shows, including the Cambridge Art Association’s “Sculptor of the Year,” as juried by veteran Boston Globe art critic Ed Driscoll. Michael is an elected fellow Maxima Cum Laude with the American Artists Professional League, and is in the Copley Society’s selected portrait artist registry. Exhibits at international art fairs include, Art Spectrum as part of Art Basel Miami, Art Expo NY, and Art Hamptons. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Associated Press, and other international publications. Some books with Michael’s sculptures are “100 Artists of New England,” “Contemporary Sculptors,” and the cover of “Filosofia” among others.
Education
Michael first studied at the Art Students League of New York, with an emphasis on life-size sculpture from the model. His formal education continued at Boston University and was augmented by internships with several prominent sculptors.
