ABOUT

In his decades-spanning practice, Michael Dwyer has focused on making abstract paintings that place color front and center. His recent work deploys crisp-edged chunks of translucent color that meander, zigzag, or float through the composition. The paintings are improvisational structures that often reveal evidence of their evolution.

Dwyer earned an MFA from the University of South Carolina and a BFA from Syracuse University. His work has been in numerous juried exhibitions. Most recently Dwyer’s work was included in the exhibition Intersections: Teachers and Students in Art and Design, McMaster Gallery, The University of South Carolina.

““Michael Dwyer does beautifully refined paintings that guide the viewer into an experiential exploration of color and texture. The overall composition is highly controlled with many details being spontaneous surprises.””
— - Philip Mullen

Artist's Statement

As a kid, I was surrounded by modern art at home - mostly my father’s paintings. I loved visiting my dad's studio. I liked the spattered dishevelment, the smell of paint, and the paintings that I couldn't fully understand, but instinctively grasped as the works came to life. I knew at an early age that making art was something I wanted to pursue.

A sense of movement has been an important element in my work for many years. Earlier pieces often conveyed a feeling of forms drifting in space. Then there was a shift toward using linear compositions to create direction. I wanted your eye to move along a variety of paths and have experiences along the way. My paintings relate to movement, physically, but also as it exists in music. I also found from my earlier collage work that I like shapes in my paintings to have crisp, assertive edges like those that came from using scissors. Pieces are sometimes informed by elements of our environment like billboards, architecture, and graffiti. Ultimately, I’m always chasing that transcendent moment where color, shape, and movement come together in a way that‘s thrilling and right.


Las Ramblas

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS         

2023, Michael Dwyer: New Work, Mike Williams Art, Columbia, South Carolina

2019, Swing Set: Paintings by Michael Dwyer, The Goodall Gallery at Columbia College, Columbia, South Carolina

2017, Six Uncut Keys to a Paint Store: Recent Work by Michael Dwyer, Roy C. Moore Gallery, University of North Georgia

2010, A Phonic Swath: Paintings by Michael Dwyer, The Etherredge Center for Fine and Performing Arts, USC Aiken, Aiken, South Carolina

2000, Recent Paintings, 80808 Gallery, Columbia, South Carolina

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2025, Intersections: Teachers and Students in Art and Design, McMaster Gallery, The University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina

2020, The Shape of Things, 701 Center for Contemporary Art, Columbia, South Carolina

2018, ArtFields, Lake City, South Carolina

2017, ArtFields, Lake City, South Carolina

2016, ArtFields, Lake City, South Carolina

2015, ArtFields, Lake City, South Carolina

2014, ArtFields, Lake City, South Carolina

2013, Color Movement: Paintings by James Dwyer and Michael Dwyer, Anastasia and Friends Gallery, Columbia, South Carolina

2011, Founder’s Dinner, The Cultural Council of Richland and Lexington Counties, Columbia, South Carolina

2009, Out and In, Gallery 313, Anderson, South Carolina

2006, Twenty-seventh Annual Juried South Carolina Artist’s Exhibition, Pickens County Museum, Pickens, South Carolina

2006, Thirty-first Annual Juried Exhibition, Anderson County Arts Center, Anderson, South Carolina

2003, Now at City Art: Michael Cassidy, Mike Dwyer, May Reisz, and Tim Turner, City Art Gallery, Columbia, South Carolina

2001, Hub City Annual Juried Exhibition, Spartanburg County Museum, Spartanburg, South Carolina

1991, Sixteenth Annual Juried Exhibition, Anderson County Arts Center, Anderson, South Carolina

EDUCATION

Master of Fine Arts, University of South Carolina, 1993

Bachelor of Fine Arts, Syracuse University, 1985

AWARDS

2008, Merit Award, Anderson County Arts Center, Thirty-third Annual Juried Exhibition

2006, Merit Award, Anderson County Arts Center, Thirty-first Annual Juried Exhibition

1991, Merit Award, Anderson County Arts Center, Sixteenth Annual Juried Exhibition

1991, Merit Award, University of South Carolina, Student Art Exhibition

1985, Honorable Mention, Syracuse University, Senior Painting Awards

COLLECTIONS

The University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina

Mr. Daniel Richardson, Columbia, South Carolina

Ms. Campbell Roth, Rochester, New York

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Israel, Columbia, South Carolina

Ms. Christine Wojcik, Columbia South Carolina

Dr. and Mrs. Tristan Weinkle, Columbia, South Carolina

Southeastern Esthetics Institute, Elgin, South Carolina

Ms. Debbie Parker, Columbia, South Carolina

Ms. Amy Love, Columbia, South Carolina

Mr. And Mrs. Leighton Lord, Columbia, South Carolina

(Estate of) Ms. Leslie Pierce, Columbia South Carolina

Mr. Alvin J. Neal, Irmo, South Carolina

Ms. Ellen Woodoff, Aiken, South Carolina

Mr. and  Mrs. E. Bradford Meadows, Greenville, South Carolina

Mr. Robert T. Lyles, Columbia, South Carolina

Mr. Doak Wolf, Columbia, South Carolina

(Estate of) Mr. Robert Wizlinski, Columbia, South Carolina

Ms. Joann Schwartz, Columbia, South Carolina