Mike Bayne's exquisitely rendered paintings capture North American scenes that are familiar and iconic. At first glance, they are often mistaken for small photographs; yet, they somehow capture a reality that photographs are unable to. There is an aura of the unbelievable in Bayne's deliberately banal subjects, a determined skill that precisely captures every nuance of the scene — the isolation, the stillness, the quality of light, the richness of colour, the extreme attention to detail in every reflection, every surface, every blade of grass. While Bayne's work commonly depicts human absence and isolation, the viewer often gets a sense of "being there," the result of such an accurate depiction.
Mike Bayne attended Queen's University and received a BAH and BFA in 2001. In 2004, he received an MFA from Concordia University. He has had several solo exhibitions with Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects in Toronto and has participated in a number of group exhibitions in Chicago, New York, Vancouver, and Toronto. He was featured in the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art's group exhibition Magenta Publishing Carte Blanche, in 2008, and was featured in a 2009 issue of Border Crossings magazine. He is the winner of the 2011 Kingston Prize for Portraiture.
The Armory Show, a leading international contemporary and modern art fair and one of the most important annual art events in New York, takes place every March on Piers 92 & 94 in Manhattan. Now celebrating its fourteenth year, the Armory Show is re-establishing itself as the most adventurous and dynamic contemporary art fair in New York City. The 2012 edition will feature an international roster of exciting, leading galleries, the acclaimed Armory Show VIP program, a lively opening night party at MoMA, the eclectic and engaging Open Forum program with major art- world figures, Armory Film, a series featuring an international selection of leading contemporary video and experimental films curated by Moving Image, and Armory Arts Week in partnership with New York's top cultural institutions.
