ARTIST BIO

Micha Klein was born in Harderwijk, The Netherlands in 1964. A punk rocker and skateboarder in his teens, with a passion for music, art and fashion, he moved to Amsterdam in 1983 to study at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy for Fine Arts,

 

Starting out as a painter he discovered one of the first personal computers later in his studies, and graduated in 1989 as the first artist to receive a BA in computer-graphics. 
 
Since then exhibitions of his works, featuring monumental photo-panels utilizing diverse digital techniques and styles can be seen in galleries and  museums worldwide. His digital "paintings" draw attention with  their bright colors and smooth surfaces, but show underneath, a unique  world with references to art history and pop culture.  
 
In 1998 the Groninger Museum honored Micha Klein with a  retrospective of 10 years of his digital art and video. 
 
After that, shows followed in London, Tokyo, Milan and San Francisco. In 2000 a show at the prestigious Mary Boone Gallery in New York started  his career in the United States. Rapper Eminem went on tour using Klein's notorious character "Pillman" in specially made background projections. 
 
Klein's work is in the collection of the following museums: LACMA Los Angeles, Denver Art Museum, Arken Museum Denmark, Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, Groninger Museum, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Amsterdam Historical Museum, and in various international corporate and private collections. 

Micha Klein has been at the front of the VJ movement since 1988,  when he introduced his rhythmic editing of computer graphics and video at warehouse parties, pioneering live VJ'ing as we now know it. He brought the concept to Ibiza (1997) with a residency in Pacha, and has done gigs all over the world from WMF (Berlin), Twilo, Lotus (New York), Crobar, Opium Garden, BED (Miami), to Vertigo (Jakarta). Klein’s 8 hour VJ sets accompanied the first 25.000 people stadium concerts by Tiesto (2003/2004), his NYE concert at Hollywood Palladium(2005), the Space Mountain Party at Disneyland Paris (2006), the ‘In Search of Sunrise’ album release party at the Heineken Music Hall (2007), and his first concert in Kiev (2007) 
 

In the Netherlands he has won the LSDA "Best VJ Award" for 2 years  in a row - and the Gouden Kabouter "Best VJ" for 3 years in a row - both of these prizes are awarded by the Dutch audience. During AVIT UK (2003) Klein was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the international VJ scene.  
 
With ‘Metadreams’  the software company he founded in 2001, he created the interactive media software Videoflux, which he’s using for his performances, and of which the online version has been used for award winning cross-media campaigns by Coca-Cola, and Nokia. 
 
Micha has designed a Swatch artist-watch (1996), and his first Coca-Cola commercial, which he wrote, directed and produced (2001) aired 400 times in the Netherlands, and was used by more then 25 countries worldwide. His second one "Bubble Dream Girl", featuring a soundtrack by Tiesto, came out in 2003.  In 2009 his ‘Nescafe by Micha Klein’ design coffee machine was successfully introduced. 
 
Studio Micha Klein (SMK) is his high end computer design studio which serves international clients like: Coca-Cola, Hugo Boss, Heineken, and Walt Disney. Hollywood movie projects include: 'Around the World in 80 Days' (2004), for which Micha Klein designed the titles and animated transitions,  and scored much critical acclaim; and ‘Chuck & Larry’ (2007) that showed Micha’s video projections in one of the scenes.

 

In 2018 Micha started his streetwear label DROP THE PILL ® as an extension to his artistic work.

DROP THE PILL ® has deep roots in the counter culture of electronic, techno and house music. Artist The garments and accessories Klein designs serve as another canvas for him to convey his agenda and artistic vision.

 

In 2021 Micha Klein once again confirmed his status as  an original innovator and he became the first Dutch artist to release a NFT collection of 10.000 unique artworks based on his Pillman character, called Cypto Pills. The collection sold out in 11 minutes due to overwhelming demand. The artist donated $150.000 of the proceeds to the Save The Children charity. In the same year he won the Digital NFT Artist of the Year award at NFT.NYC in New York.
 
Micha currently lives and works in Koh Samui, with his wife, who is a concert pianist, and 2 beautiful Bali born daughters. He's working on a new series of  artworks, and sculptures, and is active in the Web3 community.