Bio

biography of james michalopoulos

James Michalopoulos began his journey in 1951, the son of a prominent modernist architect father whose designs helped reshape downtown Pittsburgh. One of six children, he was raised in a home full of art, including paintings by his uncle, the influential Abstract Expressionist painter William Baziotes.

Despite the early artistic influences, Michalopoulos was drawn to science and economics and imagined a career in one of these fields. After graduation from Bowdoin College in 1974, he spent his postgraduate years consumed by work in the cooperative movement. He managed the Boston Food Coop and then founded and managed the Cambridge Cooperative, which became America’s largest storefront coop.

Upon leaving the coop movement, he began his winding route to New Orleans by way of Washington, DC. While on the road, he began to sketch to fill the free time. A flirtation with art became an affair. Then a marriage. A strictly plein air painter, Michalopoulos was challenged to find a winter locale to continue his work. In 1979, he was drawn to New Orleans as the last bastion of hippie bohemian culture in America. The city and its “Culture of Celebration” held an intense appeal. He began sketching artists and musicians, houses and street corners.

Fascinated with the duality of beauty and decay, the architecture of the city became his muse. His portraits of shotgun houses and Creole cottages, depicted in layer upon layer of thick impasto paint, brimmed with color and energy and captured the essence of his subject. This body of work established him as the most influential living artist in the region today.

James worked as the Art Director for the House of Blues Productions for six years. Additionally, he art directed NBC’s “In Concert” series and the Nice Jazz Festival. His sets for the House of Blues have been called some of the most influential stage sets ever designed for televised music.

During this time, he developed an abiding interest in musical imagery. His portraits represent all segments of the musical stratosphere and have been featured on the coveted New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival poster seven times, more than any other artist in the festival’s history. In the early years, his atelier printed the posters using a remarkable 36-screen hand-pulled process.

In the early 1990s he maintained a studio in Lausanne, Switzerland and exhibited both there and in Geneva, London, and Berlin. During a trip to France in 1990, he fell in love with Provence and the Burgundy region and bought a home near Cluny. Today he divides his time between New Orleans and Burgundy. The French countryside—with its Roman era stone buildings and verdant fields—has become a large focus of his work.

Not long after, he transformed a 150-year-old cotton gin into the first rum distillery in the continental US since prohibition, Celebration Distillation, which created the award-winning line of Old New Orleans Rum and Gingeroo. In Covington, Louisiana, he was an early force in the redevelopment of the historic downtown area, founding restaurant Etoile. After Katrina, Michalopoulos acquired the Old Union Brewery and converted it into the North Robertson Artist Studios which provides affordable work spaces for over 100 local artists.

PBS affiliate WLAE is producing a documentary titled Michalopoulos: The Art of Celebration! The filmmakers followed James’ story, travelling through never-before-seen locations in the US and Europe on a journey to portray James’ forty-year love affair with the city of New Orleans; his influence on the art movement in the region; and his activism as a preservationist, conservationist, and creative entrepreneur.

James opens The Hotel Pompadour this year on the grounds of his studio complex on Elysian Fields. This artist-designed space is a maze of color-drenched rooms carefully curated with original paintings and curios from his personal collection, each room offering a new way to experience the continuously expanding work of the artist.

As steward of the Michalopoulos Foundation, James supports expressiveness in architecture and affordable housing for emerging artists. In addition, he remains a passionate preservationist and philanthropist, supporting historic neighborhoods and a multitude of community charities.

Michalopoulos sees a great future for New Orleans as a cultural light for the 21st century. He says that Louisiana is “The State of Gratitude,” and he insists, “We can show the world how to live.” He still loves to costume for Mardi Gras.

artist's statement

"Elemental truth of/in my subject and life drives me. I am focused on the expression of the essentials - the force and essence of my subject. Highest and best is a representation that recreates the heart of the subject and its outward evident beauty or qualities.

My style is an abstraction of the figurative. I like color, volumetric shape, and graphic lines. while one knows my subject one knows more fully the spirit of the subject. I take my liberties and express my emotions in a poetic interpretation."

2026

Mystical Expressionism: A Walk Through New Orleans", The Cabildo Museum, New Orleans, LA

2025

"Michalopoulos in Mississippi", The Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, Laurel, MS

"Happy Times: Summer in the City", Manship Theatre at The Shaw, Baton Rouge, LA

"A Bayou State of Mind", The Shaw Center for The Arts, Baton Rouge, LA

2023

"James Michalopoulos: Spring Time", Ryan Reynolds Gallery at The Newman School, New Orleans,LA

2021

"From the Fat Man to Mahalia: James Michalopoulos' Music Paintings", New Orleans Jazz Museum, New Orleans, LA

"Tempting Spring: The Wondrous Works of James Michalopoulos", Glades Art Foundation Gallery, The Woodlands, TX

2020

Rogge Dunn Gallery, Dallas, TX

Historic City Hall Arts & Cultural Center, Lake Charles, LA -

2019

“Heart of the Matter: The Celebration of the Essential in Everyday Life,” Norton Museum of Fine Art, Shreveport, LA

“Personal Structures,” European Cultural Centre, Palazzo Mora, Venice, Italy

"All Saint's Soirée,” Seven Three, New Orleans, LA

2018

“Deux Choses Simplement,” Chateau Branlant, Cluny, France

“James Michalopoulos: Selected Paintings,” Beaudry Gallery, Dallas, TX

“James Michalopoulos, Paintings,” Amuse Bouche, Napa, CA

2017

“Waltzing the Muse: The Paintings of James Michalopoulos,” Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA

“Rhythm and Movement: Paintings by James Michalopoulos,” Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA

“La Féte Nationale,” Jeudi Prochain Galerie d’Art, Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France

2016

“Joie de Vivre: A 30 Year Retrospective of Paintings by James Michalopoulos,” Old State Capitol, Baton Rouge, LA

“Southern Spirits, Texture and Tumult,” Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, Biloxi, MS

“James Michalopoulos,” Linare/Brecht Fine Art, Maui, Hawaii

2014

“Rapt in Color,” Alexandria Museum of Art, Alexandria, LA

"Southern Spirit, Texture and Terrain,” Tennessee Art League Gallery, Nashville, TN

2012

“Night in New Orleans,” Thomasville Center for the Arts, Thomasville, GA

“The James Michalopoulos Exhibition,” Hammond Regional Art Center, Hammond, LA

Mars Gallery, Chicago, IL

2009

Cameron Gallery, Dallas, TX

2008

Studio at Chateau D’Ouilly, Burgundy, France.

2007

Juedi Prochain Gallery, Cluny, France

Alex Beard Studio, New York, NY