Artwork

Mike Rimbaud is a New York City-based painter whose expressive, figurative work captures the vitality and complexity of urban life. Drawing inspiration from artists like Phillip Guston, Otto Dix, Grosz, Ashcan artists, Hopper and Alice Neel—as well as underground comic artists such as Robert Crumb—Mike's painting style fuses social observation with raw emotion and biting humor.

A native New Yorker, Mike has long used his city as both muse and canvas. His latest body of work explores the energy, drama, and diversity of the New York City subway—a subject that allows him to chronicle both the architecture of the underground and the people who move through it. These scenes are part portraiture, part reportage, rendered in oil with a vivid, narrative flair. Whether depicting commuters lost in thought, musicians performing on platforms, or workers behind the scenes, Mike’s subway paintings aim to preserve the fleeting moments of a city always in motion.

His previous series, Lower East Side Portraits, was exhibited at the Abrons Arts Center, Theater for the New City and profiled in The Villager, highlighting his talent for capturing the lives of everyday New Yorkers—from bartenders and butchers to performers and shopkeepers. Across all his work, Mike seeks out characters and stories often overlooked, imbuing them with dignity, humor, and a sense of timelessness.  Mike Rimbaud has also taught graphic design at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.