It saved him for a long while

“Self Portrait, 1996” (acrylic on textured canvas), by Michelangelo Lovelace (1960-2021), in the show “Art Saved My Life,’’ at the Middlebury (Vt.) College Museum of Art.

© Michelangelo Lovelace Estate. Courtesy of the estate and Fort Gansevoort, New York.

The museum explains:

“Lovelace hoped for ideas and experiences to flow straight from his mind to the canvas, as honestly and forthrightly as he could manage. This allowed him to process and contend with harsh experiences, and to express himself to others. Before his life was cut short by pancreatic cancer, he had shown his work from New York to Los Angles and was thrilled with what he had achieved. Taking stock of his personal journey and the sense of purpose that he found in creativity, he remarked “I’m one of those people who say ‘art saved my life,’ and it truly did.”