Abstract

Michael Healey is an excellent example of a Renaissance artist: that is, someone
who doesn’t limit himself to one medium and whose work crosses over many
artistic disciplines. A very well known painter and an award winning designer, his
work encompasses drawing, painting and printmaking. A recent collaborative
research project even involves sculpture; working with a distinguished academic
colleague in Australia, Professor Mike Esson, Healey won a prestigious UK
research grant for Essons “The Art of Reconstruction”, a project that blurs the
boundaries between art and medicine. The project, which is collaboration among
key international players in medicine and art, aims to improve the results of
plastic surgery.
His recent solo exhibition of experimental letterpress drawings at Tyler School of
Art was a particularly striking example of Healey’s polymorphous creativity. This
suite of twelve square compositions in subtle tones and muted colors confounds
the eye. The interplay of stripes and geometric shapes intersecting one another
forms a jazz-like rhythm that is both understated and dazzling. A closer
inspection of the drawing surfaces reveals further visual wit, as some of the
shapes are cut out in several places to reveal multiple layers. Stepping back from
the drawings, perspective shifts between the two- and three-dimensional
elements in each piece: which of the lines are real shadows and which printed?
The drawings invite the viewer to move back and forth, trying to resolve this
conundrum