CV/Bio
Selected Exhibitions
2020 – True West, Dairy Block Gallery, Denver CO
2020 – Knockout, Dairy Block Gallery, Denver CO
2018 – Draft Ekphrastic, Parker Arts & Cultural Events Center, Parker, CO
2016 – INK MONSTR Sticky Situation, Denver CO
2016 – WESTWORD Artopia, City Hall, Denver, CO
2016 – The Best of Santa Fe, Habitat Gallery, Denver, CO
2015 – Something Borrowed, Something New, Point Gallery, Denver,CO
2012 – New Works w/ Brian Wall, Kanon Collective, Denver, CO
2010 – Residual Images, Solo, Urban Pearl, Boulder, CO
2008 – Selected Works, Solo, Shadow Mountain Gallery, Evergreen, CO
Curation and Installation Design
2016 - Present – Satellite Exhibition Services, Denver CO, Co-owner/Curator
2016 - Present - Coors National Western Art, DenverCO, Lead Installer & Designer
2026 - Present - Parker Arts, Culture and Events Center, Parker CO, Installation Designer
2013 - Present – Independent Contractor: Art Installation & Design
2014 - 2016 – Point Gallery, Denver CO, Co-owner/Curator
2009 - 2012 – Kanon Collective, Denver CO, Board of Directors
2006 - 2008 – Urban Collective, Boulder CO, Curator
About the Artist
Michael W. Vacchiano is a Denver-based artist with a primary focus in figurative oil painting. His work explores traditional tropes with a contemporary edge. Michael’s current work explores the turmoil and inequality within our country today. The allegorical narrative within these paintings reference this uniquely American concept of something being “Western”. By using a contemporary western aesthetic he confronts outdated notions of the American experience and addresses the social and political upheaval within America today. He completed his BFA at the University of Colorado Boulder in 2004 and has maintained a studio in Colorado since that time. Michael was co-owner and curator of Point Gallery in Denver’s Santa Fe Art District and is currently co-owner of Satellite Exhibition Services, an art fabrication and installation design company.
Recent exhibitions include: True West at Red Brick, Aspen 2022; Alt/West at BRDG Project, Denver, 2021; True West at The Dairy Block Denver, 2020; Knockout at The Dairy Block Denver, 2020; and DRAFT Ekphrastic at the Parker Arts & Cultural Event Center, 2018. Vacchiano's work has been exhibited throughout Colorado, and his paintings can be found in a number of private collections throughout the United States and abroad.
In the news:
Westword, January 2020 – “Vacchiano takes traditional ideas but gives them a contemporary edge through the context in which he puts his subjects.”
The Denver Post, January 2020 – “…a smart painting loaded up with both historical and art history references.”
