The Makings of an Artist
Mike Panasitti started painting in his mid-20s when a friend at the University of California, Berkeley, introduced him to the work and biography of Vincent van Gogh.
Moved by what he saw and read of this post-impressionist painter, the promising scholar abandoned graduate school and began brushing pigments onto canvas, determined to emulate the 19th century Dutchman infamous for having severed his ear.
At first, Mike adhered to the script of the starving, mentally anguished artist. True to the evolving stereotype, he created his first pieces under the influence of hallucinogenic substances. These trips commenced a descent down a rabbit hole of mental health challenges. Despite the heavy setback, Mike's mother knew her son possessed talent when a stranger offered her $5,000 for one of his early works.
Prompted by this and other instances of validation, as well as ongoing encouragement from family and friends, Mike continued to produce paintings.
After a dramatic encounter with law enforcement in 2003, he experienced a long-term institutionalization but was never deterred from pursuing his dreams of becoming a recognized artist. In 2012, while contributing to murals at Patton State Hospital, Mike adopted the handle "¡Ojo!" meaning "eye" in Spanish, but also "keep an eye out!" or "heads up!" in his parents' native Argentina.
Since being released from his terms of confinement in 2018, ¡Ojo! has continued to produce paintings that not only wrestle with social issues, but also "depict our future."
More recently inspired by the abstract and neo-expressioinist paintings of Frankenthaler, de Konning, Baselitz and Basquiat, today ¡Ojo! produces canvases that quote post-modern masters but possess features of unquestionable originality.
His work has been shown at the Newport Beach Art Exhibition, Las Lagunas, Naturalist and Covet galleries, the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, as well as at Meeting of the Minds and the Recovery Education Institute.
After surviving many years of psychiatric confinement and recovering from schizophrenia, ¡Ojo! realized the devastating impact maladjusted artistic role models can have on the lives of people aspiring to create.
Befor Fine Arts donates 15% of all proceeds to organizations that help creatives prioritize their mental health concerns over pressures of living up to inherited narratives of "mad" artists.
By making a purchase, you not only beautify frequented and lived-in spaces with one of kind pieces and high-quality prints, you also contribute to ¡Ojo!'s vision of creating a saner world.
My art business has been designated as a "Trusted Art Seller" with The Art Storefronts Organization, which means you can shop with confidence, and know that I stand behind the quality and value of my products.
