Matthew Kirk
Matthew Kirk’s (b. 1978, Ganado, AZ) paintings exude a rhythmic intensity based in a matrix of mark-making that the artist has developed over the past decade. He freely mixes oil pastel, chalk, gouache, spray paint, graphite, acrylic paint, colored tape, and brass BBs in a compositional strategy that merges a representation of the landscape of the Southwest and the freeform abstraction of music. Kirk is known for his energetic, all-over aesthetic and his use of humble materials, some found, some based in the construction and commercial art handling industries, as well as his investigation into his own Navajo heritage and the political implications of Native American culture.
Select Works
Select Exhibitions
Indian Theater: Native Performance, Art, and Self-Determination since 1969, Hessel Museum of Art, CCS Bard, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
June 24 – November 26, 2023
Matthew Kirk: MK Ultra, Fierman Gallery, New York, NY
October 27 – December 22, 2022
Matthew Kirk: Do What You Can, Adams and Ollman, Portland, Or
January 8 – February 5, 2022
Matthew Kirk: 1978, Fierman Gallery, New York, NY
March 9 – April 29, 2018
Select Press
2015
Indrisek, Scott. “Subtlety and Sheetrock,” Modern Painters, August 2015.
McGurran, Brianna. “No MFA, No Problem: A Look Inside the Outsider Art Fair,” The New York Observer, January 30, 2015.
Indrisek, Scott. “Art for Art’s Sake: Insider Picks at the Outsider Fair,” BlouinArtinfo.com, January 29, 2015.