Michael Hannon
Born in 1963
As someone on the milder end of the Autistic spectrum, born in 1963,
I was not diagnosed until middle age. This despite the fact that I had
self-diagnosed myself as having something that to me appeared to
be a mild form of autism, in the 5th grade. But at this time conventional
wisdom (in this country) was that only the most severe forms of autism,
were forms of autism. I still do not fully understand how this came about
since Dr. Kanner’s first paper to establish the term in English, referred
to people in my area of the spectrum. Though he and others working
in the U.S. emphasized the more extreme cases over time, it still seems
a little perverse that the term was for decades not applied to the cases
it was originally coined for. Yet despite this I did receive rather good
special education in language / communication skills. This did allow me to eventually learn to read (about the 6th to 7th grade); and eventually to write (more or less in high school and college), though my spelling is still poor, and writing fairly arduous. A side note here, while spell check can be a help, with my often clueless spelling it can also become an exercise in frustration as well- so no, I do not consider it a godsend.
As an artist I have a wide range of interests, including visual art and design, as well as poetry. As to visual arts, I enjoy using a wide range of techniques, from drawing in pencil, ink, or scratchboard, to painting in watercolor, gauche, acrylics, and oils. I also like to draw on a wide range of historical styles and techniques. Working in forms from Asian brush painting, and medieval manuscript illumination, to more traditional western drawing and painting techniques.
I am largely self taught, but my father is a theatrical set designer, and I have a two year degree in Visual Communication Design; as well as a B.A. in Anthropology. My interest in anthropology has certainly inclined me to look at, and draw on art styles and techniques from throughout the world. One of the ironies of being an artist for me (and I believe for many others) is that I do art largely because I am not good at social / linguistic communication, yet in our society visual artist are largely judged on personal and written presentations, that really have little or nothing to do with their skills as artists.
Now I should explain that while it is the case that I am a poet as well as a visual artist (often including original poetry in my works), you may be lead to believe that I have some special facility with language. This is far from the truth. I do have an abiding love of language, despite the difficulty that I have in putting my thoughts into words. I further believe that my Asperger’s does predispose me towards structured verse in my poetry. Having a more or less rigid structure makes writing easier for me. I do try to express aspects of what I find to be the human condition in my art, hoping that others will be able to recognize their own experiences in my art; just as I have been helped through life by finding art with which I can identify. Many I know will consider this a naive view. But I do find it disheartening to see how often the most mundane ideas (rather grandly called “theory”, or “philosophy”) are used to elevate the most mundane of products to (we are told) the level of “high art”. It is amazing to hear how people will go on and on and on about how current art derives its meaning from its place in art history. I am sorry but I believe, with every fiber of my being, that art whose only meaning is in the context of its own art history is essentially meaningless. Who wants to know people that can only talk about themselves? It’s as if all too many artists (and art theorists) are schooled in art theory by Oscar Wild, but without the slightest notion that irony exists.
Michael Hannon
To view the art, poetry, design and caligraphy
of this prolific artist please visit
