Matthew Roberts
Lemons, 2020, enamel, gesso on canvas, 52 x 74”
Describe your artistic style in three words.
Deep, Water, Horizon
What's inspiring you right now?
What's making me angry? Let's see, Cronyism, political amnesia, famous musicians who also paint.
What do you do when you're feeling uninspired?
...eat junk food, look at unflattering memes of Donald Trump.
Tell us something unique about your process.
Can I say fuck? I like to fuck up a surface, i.e. the substrate and then try to fix it, which I guess, means, make it look like art.
What advice do you have for other artists?
Refine your thought process not the object, let the loose ends hang lest you become a craftsman.
Anything else you'd like to share?
Good art doesn't match the drapes. Don't be afraid. I'm not talking about accidentally coloring outside of the lines. I'm saying don't be afraid to offend someone or yourself. Don't make compromises. And please exercise caution. Art that attempts provocation is trite. Art that feigns beauty is useless.
Cornball Alert: If you create something from your head and heart and it sits right with you then that needs no explanation. Art causes no physical harm it only stirs the beauty and the ugliness that is already inside us.
Taxes, 2020, enamel, gesso on canvas, 50 x 78”
Disappear, 2020, enamel, gesso on canvas, 39 x 55”
Nuts, 2020 (conceived 2019), enamel on Rives BFK, two sheets, overall dimensions 40 x 60”
Caution, 2020 (conceived 2019) enamel on Rives BFK, two sheets, overall dimension 40 x 60”
Battered, 2007, graphite on Rives BFK, four sheets, overall dimension 41 x 120”
Terra, 2007, graphite on Rives BFK, four sheets, overall dimension 41 x 120”
DOB: Gainesville, Florida, 1972. I received a BFA in painting at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1999, and an MFA in painting from Rhode Island School of Design, 2002. I live in east Austin with my lovely wife, two kids, two cats and one dog.
As a student, concerning my paintings, I often heard, ...muddy palette, darks and lights are indistinguishable. Paint the whites whiter and the blacks blacker. Teaching color Theory I passed down similar suggestions to students. I would say, "Warm up the blacks. Cool off the whites." I heard the words spoken from my mouth but they skewed tangentially from their intent. Words out of context can sound silly if not incredibly powerful.