MICHAEL SAVIELLO

Michael “Big Mike” Saviello has been the manager at the iconic East Village barbershop, Astor Place Hairstylists, for nearly 40 years. Since he was young, he’s had a passion for art, but never pursued formal training. With the responsibilities of college, business, marriage and family, art was far from his mind for many years. Mike was inspired by a photo he took on a lunch date with his wife, realizing that this would be the perfect first portrait for him to return to painting. It was good fortune that Mike then found a large, high-quality canvas outside the barbershop. Since then, he has conscientiously made time, painting every day for a year during his lunch break in the barber shop’s storage area, now transformed into his private gallery of over fifty paintings. His style is influenced by impressionism and realism, as well as, popular culture. Mike has been overwhelmed by the response to the paintings, which he made just for the joy of creating them, but will host his first art show in conjunction with Heller Films’ “Big Mike Takes Lunch” documentary, where many will be for sale. As a media personality, Mike’s art has been featured on “In the Know Presents”, NBC New York, and he has appeared in Allure magazine recently, to name a few. For bookings, reach out to @michaelsaviello on Instagram.