Pixelated: Mike Whiting

September 3, 2026-June 5, 2027

Pixelated: Mike Whiting explores the relationships and impact of the virtual world on our daily lives with sculpturesplaced across USU’s Logan and Price campuses. Whiting’s sculptures represent the intersection of two distinct visual styles: 8-bit pixel graphics, which have enjoyed a recent resurgence in video games like Minecraft, and Minimalist sculpture. Technological limitations in early video games like Pac-Man and Space Invaders reduced the graphics to simplified shapes, while the Minimalist art movement created artworks that purposely lacked detail in order to find the most basic essence of Art. Whiting uses welded steel and automotive paint in his art to explore themes of the Natural and Artificial World; Play; Engaging Art History; Movement; Public Art; and, the Intersection of Technology and Wellbeing.  As Whiting gives these pixels weight and the permanence of steel, he asks us to consider how artificial intelligence and screens are increasingly shaping the way we experience the world and connect with each other.

Michael Whiting (b. 1974, Provo, UT) is one of Utah’s best-known artists whose work has been exhibited around the world. His whimsical and recognizable sculptures of large-scale colorful pixelated animals and objects are inspired by early digital graphics and video game design. Whiting received his BFA at Brigham Young University and his MFA at the prestigious Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.  His works are included in museum collections, public parks, and cities throughout the country, including a recent monumental exhibition at the Denver Botanic Gardens and public installations in Salt Lake City, Denver, Long Beach, Albuquerque, and Seattle.

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