Biography
Based in Charlottesville, Virginia, artist Michael Fitts has used oil paint on reclaimed scrap metal for more than 20 years. He has shown in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Boston, Indiana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Belgium. He is an associate member of the McGuffey Art Center in Charlottesville and is also a member of the Washington Project for the Arts in Washington, D.C. Fitts is represented in the Washington D.C. metro area by the Fraser Gallery in Bethesda, MD, in Pennsylvania by Gallery Piquel in New Hope, PA, Gallery50 in Rehoboth Beach, DE, Haley Fine Art in Sperryville, VA, The Miller Gallery in Cincinnati, OH, Gold Gallery in Boston, MA and by Art Cézar in Leuven, Belgium.
"Elevating the importance of ephemeral objects to the status of art is what I find most interesting. From discovering a piece of interesting metal and constructing a frame, to selecting the subject to be painted, the evolution of a piece provides many creative challenges and rewards of which I feel I am only beginning to scratch the surface."
Selected Exhibitions
2023
(Upcoming: October 14, 2023), Haley Fine Art. Sperryville, VA
2019
December Holiday Group Show, Haley Fine Art. Sperryville, VA
2018
Outsize, Haley Fine Art. Sperryville, VA
December Holiday Group Show, Haley Fine Art. Sperryville, VA
2016
Sight Lines, Haley Fine Art. Sperryville, VA
The Grid, Haley Fine Art. Sperryville, VA
2015
December Holiday Group Show, Haley Fine Art. Sperryville, VA
2014
December Holiday Group Show, Haley Fine Art. Sperryville, VA
June, Twenty Paintings, Haley Fine Art. Sperryville, VA
2008-2014
Group show, Fraser Gallery/Affordable Art Fair. New York, NY
2013
July, Gallery50. Rehoboth Beach, DE
November, Angelo. Charlottesville, VA
2012
January, Group show, Mayer Fine Art/Los Angeles Art Show, CA
September, Haley Fine Art. Sperryville, VA
2011
August, Gallery50. Rehoboth Beach, DE
September, Chroma Projects Lab. Charlottesville, VA
November, Group Show, Fraser Gallery/Boston International Art Show
2010
April, Group show, Mayer Fine Art. Norfolk, VA
2009
July, Gallery KH. Chicago IL
September, Evan Lurie Gallery. Carmel, IN
October, Group show, Art Cézar/The Affordable Art Fair. Amsterdam, Belgium
2008
March, The C&O Gallery. Charlottesville, VA
September, Group show, Gallery KH. Chicago IL
September, Gallery50. Rehoboth Beach, DE
Group juried exhibit, Mid-Atlantic New Painting. Fredericksburg, VA
2007
May-June, Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts. Suffolk, VA
September, The Fraser Gallery. Bethesda, MD
October, Gallery Piquel. New Hope, PA
2005
March, Group show, Corcoran Gallery of Art. Washington DC
2004
January, Group show, Corcoran Gallery of Art. Washington DC
March, Group show, Corcoran Gallery of Art. Washington DC
2003
January, Corcoran Gallery of Art. Washington DC
May, McGuffey Art Center. Charlottesville, VA
November, McGuffey Art Center. Charlottesville, VA
2002
August, The Mudhouse. Charlottesville, VA
Fall, Group show, University of Virginia Law School. Charlottesville, VA
2001
April, Group show, Dispatches from the New Dominion: 6 Virginia Artists. Bedford Hills, NY
April, McGuffey Art Center. Charlottesville, VA
May, Group show, Dispatches from the New Dominion: 7 Virginia Artists. Brooklyn, NY
September, The Mudhouse. Charlottesville, VA
2000
December, Group show, McGuffey Art Center. Charlottesville, VA
1999
January, Group show, Studio Gallery. Washington D.C.
September, The Mudhouse. Charlottesville, VA
1996
September, Higher Grounds. Charlottesville, ViA
Awards/Grants
2007 Grant from the George Sugarman Foundation, Inc. Novato, CaliforniaEducation
Education
BFA, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 1989