6 things to focus on in the new Michael Kagan edition Higher Love, 2026

Michael Kagan says he learned two great lessons from his art tutors Eric Fischl and Jenny Saville. From Fischl he learned that less is often more, "to paint with confidence and trust that certain areas can remain unresolved."

From Saville, he learned about the importance of the physicality of painting itself. “She reinforced the idea that paint can carry emotion, tension, weight, and vulnerability beyond simply describing an image.”
 
The application of those lessons are present in Kagan’s new Artspace edition Higher Love, 2026. But there are also many, many more things to look for beneath the surface of the work. Here Kagan talks us through six of them. 

Michael Kagan with Higher Love, 2026 - photography Nir Arieli

 
The image of Apollo 11’s Buzz Aldrin in the edition is a double portrait. 
“Buried in the center of Aldrin’s visor reflection is the small figure of Neil Armstrong taking the photograph. Some people have said the best photograph of Armstrong on the moon is actually the reflection of him inside Aldrin’s visor. That layering is really interesting to me psychologically and visually. The image contains both astronauts, the landscape, the camera, the act of looking, and the act of documenting all at once. It already feels like a painting before I even begin working from it.”

Michael Kagan Higher Love, 2026 - photography Garrett Carroll

The edition works both instantly and slowly. “You recognize the astronaut instantly. But as the viewer gets closer, the brush marks begin to take over, and the image starts to fall apart. That tension between clarity and collapse is important to me. I want the paintings to exist right on the edge between representation and abstraction. Letting certain areas dissolve forces the viewer to participate a little more—the eye has to complete the image. The longer you stay with the painting, the more the surface opens up physically and emotionally. The brush marks start competing with the image itself. You become aware of the painting as an object, a process, a record of time and decision making. Hopefully the viewer begins entering the painting the same way I entered it while making it.”
 

Michael Kagan Higher Love, 2026 - photography Garrett Carroll

There’s nostalgia in the work, but not simply for the past. “We’re entering a new era of space exploration, and I think that makes the earlier NASA imagery feel even more romantic and exciting now. Those images still carry a kind of optimism and collective imagination that people respond to instinctively. Over the years I’ve actually become friends with astronauts and people involved with these newer space programs, so the subject matter feels less distant and more human to me now. It’s no longer just mythology or historical imagery — there are real people behind it again.” 

Michael Kagan with Higher Love, 2026 - photography Nir Arieli

The astronaut image just might be a self-portrait in disguise. “The paintings absorb whatever is happening in my life while I’m making them—good days, bad days, energy, frustration, focus, distraction. Every mark carries some trace of that experience. So even if the image is based on a historical astronaut, the surface of the painting becomes very personal over time. Any body of work eventually becomes autobiographical in some way. I don’t think of the astronauts literally as self-portraits, but I do think the brushstrokes are.”

Michael Kagan with Higher Love, 2026 - photography Nir Arieli

The isolation of space in the edition is a reflection of life on Earth. “Space is probably just the most amplified version of something that already exists on Earth. The paintings are technically about astronauts, but they’re also about distance, pressure, performance, loneliness, ambition—things that feel very contemporary. The helmet and reflective visor are important to me because they transform the figure from a straightforward portrait into something more abstract and iconic. The reflection collapses multiple spaces together — the astronaut, the landscape, machinery, light— and creates a kind of distortion that feels psychological as much as visual. It separates us from the individual person while also pulling us further into the image.”

 Michael Kagan Higher Love, 2026 - photography Garrett Carroll

Those visor reflections are important and they’re his favorite part to paint. “That’s where everything collapses together—the astronaut, the landscape, the machinery, the photographer, history, light. The visor becomes this distorted psychological space rather than just a reflective surface. There’s also almost always a tiny reflection of the astronaut taking the photograph buried in the center of the visor reflection. I like that idea a lot — the viewer becomes that astronaut. I become that astronaut. That’s probably the best place to start entering the painting from.”
 
Take a closer look at Higher Love, 2026, proceeds from which will benefit the non-profit skilled rehabilitation and training team organization Animal Haven. It was chosen by Kagan for its work in finding permanent homes for abandoned cats and dogs and ongoing support after adoption.