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Painting the Unknown:
Gallery owner brings artists to Roxanne Quimby's proposed national park land
By Aislinn Sarnacki, Bangor Daily News, September 21, 2011
Review of "Painting the Unknown" at Northlight Gallery, Millinocket
"There was no way to get across without going in over your knees. So we went
off and got logs and built a bridge and were across in 10 minutes. This is what
we do. We're artists. We come up with creative solutions to things."
Eye on the Arts
by Pat Ciarrocchi, CBS3 Philadelphia
Television review of Anatomy/Academy at PAFA
Big, Yet Tiny
by Ray Routhier, Maine Sunday Telegram, December 9, 2007
Review of "Tiny" at Whitney Art Works
"In our fast-food culture, people go by so fast they don't take
time to look at things. When something is a quarter-inch tall,
you can't do that."
SMCC Adds Art to Curriculum
Michael Branca is Artist in Residence at Southern Maine Community College
Portland Press Herald, June 9, 2005
"I do what I do because I love it and always have."
In Residence
Coastal retreats offer inspiration to financially challenged artists
by Carl Little, Island Journal, vol. 24, 2008
Artscape: Michael Branca
Profile for the newsletter of Five Rivers Arts Alliance
by Seth Kelly, Fall, 2008.
"Branca often finds his inspiration by connecting with subjects that are not
always meant to be noticed."
The Art of Assemblage
Ten Maine artists explore the bricolage of found objects
by Candace Koru, Maine Home and Design, Jan-Feb, 2009
"When you put together things that other people have thrown out,
you're really bringing them to life--a spiritual life that surpasses
the life for which they were originally created." --Louise Nevelson
The Extraordinary Art of Michael Branca
by Aimee Curl, Maine Times, April 19, 2001, pp 20-21
Feature story about Mike, his bugs and his art
"His paintings are so warm and full that you can't help but feel
at ease in their presence and want to smile back."
Bare Feat: Catching the Artist Michael Branca
in his Working Environment
by Maggie Knowles, Portland Phoenix, July 30, 2004
Review of "Caution: Wet Paint," Mike's wide-open studio/
evolving exhibition at Three Fish Gallery
"He saw balance. He saw simplicity. He saw sustainability.
And he put it all on canvas."
Artist on the Job: Please Disturb
Michael Branca works in a Fishbowl at Three Fish Gallery
by Chris Busby, Portland Forecaster, July 21, 2004, page 5
Review of "Caution: Wet Paint," Mike's wide-open studio/
evolving exhibition at Three Fish Gallery
"one of Portland's most accomplished young artists in action."
Not a Who's Who, But a Very Good Start
by Philip Isaacson, Maine Sunday Telegram, Sept. 1, 2002, page 3E
Review of "Past, Present, Future" at Center for Maine Contemporary Art
"natural and uninhibited embrace of artistic license, exuberantly applied
to anatomy and nature, convention and propriety, fashion and art trends."
Naked & Smiling
by Christopher Thompson, Portland Phoenix, April 12, 2001, page 6
Review of Mike's solo show, "Naked & Smiling" at Filament Gallery
"Branca's work poses a series of musing explorations of humans' ambivalent
relationships to nature and its inhabitants: vegetable, animal, and human.
He also feels compelled to make artwork that you don't need to earn six
figures to afford."
Caution Wet Paint
July - August, 2004
Press Release for Mike's month-long, wide-open studio/
evolving exhibition at Three Fish Gallery
"By asking anyone interested to observe and participate in my process, I hope
to break down some of the mystique surrounding what it is to 'be an artist.'"
Fine fiber art on the cutting edge as well as either side
by Philip Isaacson, Maine Sunday Telegram, April 18, 2004
Review of several exhibitions including the "Winter Show" at Elan Fine Arts
"I urge the work of Mike Branca. His "Last Supper" set into the opening in a
common electric switchplate and "Creation of Adam" in a similar frame are
wondrous. These are universes less than an inch long."
Coming to Terms with the Term
by Aimee Curl, Maine Times, October 26, 2000
Review of "The Unknown Generation: X? Who Are We?" at Maine Artists Space
"Typical of this generation of artists, Michael Branca's work spans the spectrum,
from bugs and religion to classic oils and nature."
The X Styles
by Elisabeth Gold, Casco Bay Weekly, October 12, 2000, page 14
Review of "The Unknown Generation: X? Who Are We?" at Maine Artists Space
"...anytime someone tries to put a label on you, you better get as far away from
that label as you can."
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
by Andy Steiner, Utne Reader, December 1999, page 128
Spotlight on Mike's Real Dead Bugs
"Animal rights activists take note:
Branca never kills the insects he uses in his art."
Buggin' Out: Artist Takes Break to Work Out the Bugs
by Dale McGarrigle, Bangor Daily News, August 14-15, 1999, pp H1 & H3
Feature story on Mike's Real Dead Bugs, including a visit to Mike's
cow pasture-studio at Skowhegan
"I started it as a kind of social experiment."
A Bug's Afterlife: A Portland artist finds inspiration in croaked critters
by Allen Dammann, Casco Bay Weekly, July 29, 1999, pp 16-17
Feature article, the first to present Mike's Real Dead Bugs to the public
"They're scattered along your windowsill. They're mingled with the dust bunnies
behind your radiator. They're sprinkled inside your light fixtures. And if you're
really unfortunate, they're lying in the shadowy recesses of your cupboard, only
inches from your favorite coffee mug. They're dead bugs--and artist Michael
Branca wants them."
Senior Artists Show their Stuff
by Kevin Cool, Colby Magazine, May 1996, pp 30-31
Cover article about Colby College graduating artists.
"Some people think these are kind of gross," Branca said in a way that
suggested nothing could please him more.
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