James Michalopoulos, New Orleans’ most recognized living artist, conjures the moods and syncopation of jazz in an exhibition at the New Orleans Jazz Museum that opens on Thursday, April 29. This retrospective, titled
From the Fat Man to Mahalia: James Michalopoulos’ Music Paintings, will span the artist’s most recent paintings of street musicians to rarely seen works, loaned from private collections across the United States–including the original painting for the Jazz Fest poster of Louis Armstrong, which hasn’t been in Louisiana in more than 20 years. The exhibition will run through January 1, 2022.
“My work tends towards the expressionistic,” said Michalopoulos. “It is gestural, energetic, and colorful. I think there is a quality of movement in most of it. This is due to my ability to sense the pulse of people and objects. I love the lyric that life can be: off-kilter, chaotic, and colorful, a kaleidoscopic unfolding. I try not to interpret too much because I
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