Cover: John ‘CRASH’ Matos, Urban Odyssey (4 Panels), Watercolor, Spray Paint and Ink on Arches Paper, 34.5 x 85.5 in.
URBAN ODYSSEY
JoAnne Artman Gallery is pleased to present URBAN ODYSSEY, featuring works by John ‘CRASH’ Matos. In a continued explorationofthespraypaintmedium,thisexhibitionhighlights Matos’distinctblendofpopsensibilityandlimitlessenergy.
As a result of his decades-long autodidactic art practice, Matos’ fluorescent palette, structural boldness, and graffiti influences have become synonymous with his proficiency. Eye-popping canvases and smaller watercolors balance flatness with dimensionality whilst incorporating signature elements of lettering, ocular motifs, lens flare, and decisive slashes of color. Borrowed imagery from popular cartoons including Popeye, Dick Tracy, and Batman gleefully appropriate and excavate visualhistorytoechoMatos’childhoodmemoriesashedelivers collectivenostalgia.Ransackingthesenseswithbrightneonand visually fragmented compositions, Matos generates works that rejectthemundane.
Rooted in his identity as a Bronx-born graffiti artist, having come of age in the hip-hop fueled Bronx of the late 1970s, Matos’ unique style made him an iconic part of the New York City visual landscape, while also pioneering a new age for graffitiin1980whenhecuratedthepivotal“GraffitiArtSuccess forAmerica”exhibitionatFashionMODA.
A frequent collaborator, CRASH is continuously engaged in various projects, commissions, and numerous museum shows, withworksinmanypermanentmuseumcollectionssuchasthe Museum of Modern Art (New York), Brooklyn Museum (New York), Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (Scottsdale), and Stedeljik Museum (Amsterdam). Whether on city streets or gallery walls, concrete or canvas, Matos’ works are instantly recognizable.
John ‘CRASH’ Matos’ work will inspire, provoke, engage and mesmerize. With visual perceptions always changing, peek behind the stories told and you're sure to find the right artisticexpression.
After London, Spray Paint on Canvas, 40 x 30 in.
Broken Sparrow, Spray Paint on Canvas, 32 x 96 in.
Burning Jasmine (4 Panels), Spray Paint on Canvas, 36 x 72.5 in.
Compass, Acrylic & Enamel on Canvas, 24 x 24 in.
Reaching For The Stars, Spray Paint on Canvas, 50 x 60 in.
Reaching For The Stars II, Spray Paint on Canvas, 50 x 60 in.
Retro-spective, Acrylic & Enamel on Canvas, 19 x 19 in.
Revision, Spray Paint on Canvas, 48 x 48 in.
Showstopper, Spray Paint on Canvas, 40 x 30 in.
Published in conjunction with the exhibition: URBAN ODYSSEY: John ‘CRASH’ Matos Fall/Winter 2024
JoAnne Artman Gallery
326 N Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach, CA 92651
346 N Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach, CA 92651
511A W 22nd St, New York, NY 10011
Catalogue © JoAnne Artman Gallery
Artwork © John ‘CRASH’ Matos