From Michael: 'The word BABA on the canvas is the name of a music project of myself and steve panowitch here in ny.
My recent show in vancouver was kind of made for the release of a Baba 7 inch record with 5 tracks. when we recorded this i kind of wanted it to be a weird tribute to bob seger. somehow this idea was always present , in the end result however its hard to tell for the listener , its not visible anymore. But it was important in the beginning to set the mood or just a certain attitude ir feeling. So its a lot like my paintings where i start somewhere with an idea and through the process of working it transforms or becomes just a small echo in the back.
so in a way this painting is a organic billboard for an idea that got lost but still shaped the process.
baba also is a delicious beer that i came across through being a member of the beer of the month club ( botmc !),
A gift for my 40 th birthday by alison jacques gallery.'

regarding upside down baba.
At one point i wasnt sure where was up and down . While working i rotate the canvas so i keep seeing it from in a different way. There are phase while working on a painting where i dont want to imagine an end result. Like a carrot in front of the horses mouth. Especially in the beginning i more focused on details and try to ignore the fact that it will become a finished piece.
helps the process, sometimes