Michael Angelo Gagliardi was born in New York City in 1962 to Irish and Italian Parents. He grew up living in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island, where he attended Msgr. Farrell High School. He received a B.F.A. in painting and sculpture and a M.A. in Theatrical Design from C.W. College of Long Island University in 1985. Michael Angelo sold his first painting in a bar on St Mark’s Place at the tender age of 17. He is eternally grateful for not being carded that day. Upon graduating college MA moved back to NYC where he kept studios in the East Village then Williamsburg Brooklyn. Though finding his own path artistically, he is still to this day influenced by the Neo-Expressionist style. Making a living in the NYC off Broadway theatre scene MA learned to be a scenic artist and stage craftsperson. He never stopped making his own art showing mostly at that time in the smaller East Village Galleries. Along with a group of artistic friends, he formed “The Revolving Door Gallery”. Each Artist would take turns using his studio as a Gallery space for one month to showcase the groups work.
In 1987 he married Zelda Fay Oeash whom he met doing Summer stock theatre. They had their first child in that same year. In 1989 they moved to Chicago where MA continued his artistic and theatrical careers. He has worked as a scenic artist, stagehand and at one time owned His own prop making shop. In 1996 he began touring the country with Broadway Musicals such as SHOWBOAT, TITANIC, PETER PAN, The LION KING and currently THE COLOR PURPLE. Continuing to make his own art he discovered each city he visited influenced his art a little differently.
Michael Angelo became a certified scuba diver in 1996. He has since received certifications in technical diving including Full Cave and Technical Gas Certifications. He began drawing the wet world almost immediately after he began diving.
Michael Angelo continues to explore many different styles of drawing. As his dive skills changes and developed so did his drawing style. The way he saw the wet world on his first dive, differs greatly from his 500th dive, so too has the way he draws changed. He has a particular fascination with the caves and springs of Florida and the shipwrecks of the Great Lakes. His was honored when he was chosen to be a diver/artist aboard the 2002 USS Monitor expedition which raised the gun turret. He made multiple dives and drawings of that famous ship. His ship wreck art has graced history books and dive guides. In the summer of 2007 he made exploration dives in Cannonball Cave in Missouri. There he completed dives to 275 feet drawing several rock formations.
