Some people may call it a squiggle. That’s fine with Mickael Broth, the Richmond-based artist, muralist, sculptor and writer who created “Lux Interior,” the most recent art installation at Summit Pointe.
Mickael describes his playful piece as “lightning bolt-esque” or an upright “marshmallow lightning bolt” with softened edges. He wants people to notice it and get joy from it. To make plans to meet up with their friends by it.
“I want it to do what all public art has been designed to do: draw people’s attention, and show that the people who built the place and who live there care,” says Mickael, also known as The Night Owl.
Made of welded aluminum, the pink, orange, yellow and white structure stands 17 feet tall and is 5 feet wide and 18 inches deep. It was installed on April 27 by the entrance to the garage.
Mickael borrowed the name of the work from the stage name of musician Erick Purkhiser, a founding member of the band The Cramps. “He had a very energetic presence on stage, and that was a good connection with the energy of the piece,” Mickael says.
Mickael was awarded a Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Professional Fellowship in 2008 for his studio work. His work has been shown widely around the United States and is held in numerous private and corporate collections. His public art has been commissioned by small businesses, Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, municipal governments and museums.
He has painted over 200 public murals throughout Richmond, the United States and Europe since 2012. They include a skybridge mural he painted for Dollar Tree, Inc. pool courtyard murals at Summit Pointe and a mural in the North lobby of Mosaic Apartments at Summit Pointe.
An active member of the community, Mickael works with youth groups and leads volunteer groups in the creation of collaborative public art projects. He serves on the board of directors for the RVA Street Art Festival.
In 2013, he published “Gated Community: Graffiti and Incarceration,” a memoir detailing his experiences with vandalism and jail. He was arrested at 20 and spent almost a year in jail. “I’ve been very lucky to make a successful transition,” he says.
Another book, “Murals of Richmond,” published in 2018, documents Richmond’s public art explosion.
For Mickael, “making art, particularly public art, is all about creating moments of joy.”
