MICHAEL ROBERT MAHALAK
ARTIST'S RESUME
Education
University of North Carolina at Pembroke, Pembroke, NC — Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art, 2003
Local Art Membership
City Lights Artist's Co-op & Gallery; Henderson, NV- 2022 - Present
Las Vegas artist’s guild; Las Vegas, NV - 2019 - 2023
Boulder City art guild; Boulder City, NV - 2019 - Present
Galleries Exhibitions
City Lights Artist's Co-op & Gallery; Henderson, NV - 2022 - Present
Las Vegas artist’s Guild Gallery; Las Vegas, NV - 2019 - 2023
Boulder City art Guild & Gallery; Boulder City, NV - 2019 - Present
Art House of Las Vegas; Las Vegas, NV - 2017 - 2018
Group Exhibitions
The Fall Juried Show, City Lights Artist's Co-op & Gallery; Henderson, NV- 9/ 2/ 2024
The Fall Juried Show, City Lights Artist's Co-op & Gallery; Henderson, NV- 9/ 2/ 2022
Peach Belt Conference Student Art Exhibit, Columbus State University; Columbus, GA - 2003
Life is art… live yours in vibrant color, West Las Vegas library; Las Vegas, NV - 2018
Solo Exhibitions
Feature Artist , Art House of Las Vegas; Las Vegas, NV - 2018
Feature Artist "Fractionalism" , Boulder City Art Guild & Gallery; Boulder City, NV - 2019
Feature Artist " Path Towards Fractionism & The Digital Age", ; Henderson, NV - 2023
Commission
Artwork chosen for the Apple Chill t-shirt, Parks & Recreation of Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC- 2001
Awards
1 st place Ribbon, The Fall Juried show, City Lights Artist's Co-op & Gallery, 9/ 14/ 2025
1 st place Ribbon, The Fall Juried show, City Lights Artist's Co-op & Gallery, 9/ 14/ 2024
3rd place Ribbon, The Fall Juried show, City Lights Artist's Co-op & Gallery, 9/ 10/ 2022
"Humpback Whales Ballad of Color" , Artrepreneur's Curator Favorite, 4/ 17/ 2023
Publication
Appeared in 2nd of ARTIST CLOSEUP, Contemporary Art Magazine , 12/ 23/2022
Appeared in a blog on aatonau.com, 12/ 3 / 2023
Michael hails from Gulfport, Mississippi, but he grew up in North Carolina, where his passion art first took root. He began by sketching Saturn rockets and space shuttles, eventually transitioning to cartoon drawings. In high school, he dreamed of becoming a cartoon animator or comic book artist, but college allowed him to delve deeper into his artistic pursuits. During this time, he created a style called Fractionalism, influenced by a mathematical idea, which has become a signature aspect of his artwork.
Introduction
During the summer of 1992, I created a painting that exemplifies the early stages of my artistic development and foreshadows the direction my work would take, which ultimately led to my current style. This evolution in my approach unfolded during my high school years, triggered specifically by an assignment from my art instructor. We were asked to produce an artwork inspired by a master’s style—options included Cubism, Impressionism, or Surrealism—and I chose Cubism for my project. Although my painting did not initially resemble traditional Cubism, its final appearance evoked the look of stained glass. I carried this stained-glass-like treatment into most of my subsequent works, using simple, discrete colors within each distinct shape and arranging values that moved from darker tones toward the lightest hues. I worked with that technique for a time until I developed a new method that elevated my artistic practice to a higher level.
Artist Michael Mahalak is renowned for his distinctive style, evocative of stained glass windows. This singular approach first took shape during an assignment in his high school art class, a project influenced by the principles of the cubism movement. Mahalak has continued to develop and refine this aesthetic, evolving it steadily over the years while experimenting with a range of techniques and materials. The term “Fractionalism” was later coined by an observer who, noting the work’s geometric fragmentation, drew a parallel to a mathematical concept.