Bout Dat Life Collection (2026) — Ancestors Chat Series
1 of 3 — Ancestors Chat Series
Saturday Night Soul
Michael James, 2026
Acrylic, spray paint, and mixed media on canvas with impasto relief, photoluminescent pigment, and trompe-l’œil dimensionality
72 × 48 in (182.9 × 121.9 cm)
One of a Kind Original — Bout Dat Life Collection (2026)
Artist Statement
The Ancestors Chat Series is the first body of work within the Bout Dat Life Collection (2026), a multi-series collection by Atlanta-based artist Michael James spanning figuration, cultural narrative, and material innovation. The series comprises three original canvases, each exploring sovereign Black joy — the kind that persists across displacement, generation, and time.
Each work is built through a multi-stage material system: acrylic ground, atmospheric spray, raised textural relief, and embedded photoluminescent pigment. The result is a canvas that generates optical depth without digital intervention — figures that advance and recede as the viewer moves, and a second visual state that activates in low light. The raised surface is weighted, tactile, and physically present. It is meant to be felt even when untouched.
These works cannot be reproduced by process alone. They are the product of technical mastery, material knowledge, and a decade of systems-level thinking applied to the painted surface.
Acquisition & Exhibition
Works from the Ancestors Chat Series are available for private acquisition, institutional loan, gallery exhibition, and licensing. Each original includes a certificate of authenticity. High-resolution press images and condition reports are available upon request.
The series is available for full-series exhibition proposals. Consignment and installment acquisition terms are considered on a case-by-case basis.
Submit an Inquiry
For acquisition, exhibition, licensing, and press inquiries. All inquiries are responded to within 3–5 business days.