Art attack: Max Miceli at Milo Gallery

“This Must Must Mean Something,” 2007, 30" x 48", acrylic on canvas

We'll admit it: We're suckers for words and images colliding. In an age when Banksy's graffiti art is purchased for 80K by Brangelina, it seems anything goes. Dayton-born, L.A.-based painter Max Miceli throws the precious notions of fine art out the window with his word-laden, animal-heavy illustrative paintings. Murky pastels, weathered textures and stark landscapes take us to a place that's neither here nor there—but we like it.

Click through for a peek at the work, then head to "Hard Icing," which opens at the Milo Gallery on Sat., March 22, and runs through April 19.