Michael Moebius
Originally from Pirna, Germany, Michael Moebius was born into a world of division. Michael developed a love for arts and a penchant for cartooning as a child. Growing up in the then communist East German setting, however, forced Michael to take a more conventional role in society. His love for art and painting took a backseat to a formal education and pragmatic ideals. Studying engineering and construction, Michael found his passion once again while working as an architectural illustrator when he happened upon a book that featured notable pin-ups by Alberto Vargas. Though he had sensed that there was something wrong with the world that he inhabited since his time roaming around near baroque architecture in his teen years, the tipping point came when Michael was forced to serve in the East Berlin army just before and during the fall of the Berlin wall. It was in that moment that he decided to dedicate his life to art.
Artwork
He took to studying painting at the academy of arts in Dresden and found his way to the United States some time later. His breakthrough work in 1998 propelled his career forward where he captivated the hearts of the art community through his playful yet familiar style. His most famous pieces center around well-known figures and the act of blowing a bubblegum bubble in paintings that are photorealistic.
Michael Moebius has said that his inspirations are drawn from a childhood within the heavily controlled state of East Germany. Items from West Germany were strictly forbidden, and any that Michael could obtain became treasured possessions. What attracted Moebius to these trinkets was not just their coloration, but the design and even scent.
The art of Michael Moebius has been featured in many prominent galleries and commissioned by the likes of Playboy, Proctor & Gamble, Vogue, and Glamour. He numbers such provocative artists as Picasso, Vargas, Titian, and Warhol as just a few of his personal inspirations. Michael has remarked that as his work is sold exclusively at galleries, he does not usually allow him the pleasure of meeting collectors in person. Even so, he enjoys speaking with his collectors at every opportunity.
What sets Michael apart from other artists is his choice subject matter given his upbringing. Coloration pays homage to the contraband of his youth while his primary choice of subject matter plays to his key moment of inspiration, the book featuring the pin-ups as depicted by Vargas.