Mikael Owunna brings impressive new public art to The Pop District
A new public art installation outside The Andy Warhol Museum is proving meaningful to not just the community it serves, but to the artist responsible for the artwork.
“As a queer artist born and raised in Pittsburgh, it is particularly moving for me to have this installation at the institution dedicated to preserving the legacy of fellow queer Pittsburgh artist Andy Warhol.”
Mikael Owunna, a Nigerian American, Pittsburgh-based multidisciplinary artist, filmmaker, and engineer, shared those remarks before a crowd of supporters gathered in the North Side today to celebrate the opening of his new public art.
Owunna’s massive installation, “Anatomy of the Human,” sits in Pop Park, the former location of Rosa Villa restaurant, directly across from the popular museum. His stylized photographic piece features a celestial image of Pittsburgh-based performing artist Joy-Marie Thompson, and is self-described as a “manifestation of the multiple spirit bodies that make up the human self.”
Dan Law, the associate director of The Andy Warhol Museum, called Owunna a “visionary” during the ceremony’s opening remarks, praising his interconnectedness to his work and his community, specifically highlighting the artist’s use of Thompson, the godchild of Janis Burley Wilson, the president and CEO of the August Wilson African American Cultural Center.
Owunna credited both his West African ancestry and Warhol’s technique of using multiple silkscreens to produce stop-motion-style images as inspiration for his piece, which he says he created using “a highly technical combination of painting, engineering, ultraviolet light, and long exposure photography.”
“I hope that this piece can serve as a mirror that reflects our divine selves and a catalyst for meditation on our true spiritual essence each time we visit and come to the Pop District,” said Owunna, whose artwork has been exhibited across Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America.
In addition to his work as an individual artist, Owunna also serves as the president of the city of Pittsburgh’s Public Art and Civic Design Commission, the director of Mikael Owunna Studios, and the co-founder of Rainbow Serpent, a Black LGBTQ nonprofit arts organization. He also is a longtime exhibiting artist with the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council’s Art on the Walls program, most recently having his photographs on display at The Allegheny Conference.
The year-long public art installation in The Pop District is made possible through a partnership with the museum and Citizens Financial Group. Pittsburgh art fans can also view his piece "Playing the Cosmic Strings," a public artwork he created for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership in 2021 outside Heinz Hall in Downtown Pittsburgh.