Chason Matthams' focus is on capturing the ephemeral experience of consciousness and pointing to its fragmentary nature. While at first glance his paintings seem to be contemplative experiments in mimesis, prolonged looking reveals threatening undertones. Matthams’ employs specific combinations of colors, angles of perspective, and exhaustive detail to anthropomorphize each of his subjects, rendering them just barely sinister. Flitting between mechanical and organic objects, Matthams’ exacting brushwork is the connective thread leading our eye through every sumptuous detail.

Matthams graduated with a BFA in Fine Art from New York University in 2004 and an MFA from New York University in 2012. Previous solo exhibitions include Glimpse, Magenta Plains, New York, NY (2022), A Hell for Rainbows, Thierry Goldberg Gallery, New York, NY (2019); Advances, None Miraculous, Thierry Goldberg Gallery, New York, NY (2015); and Tyler Wood Gallery, San Francisco, CA (2019, 2013). He was included in Blossom, a three person exhibition with Ted Pim and Marisa Takal organized by the Tong Art Advisory at the Artron Art Centre, Shenzhen, CN (2021); and his work was included in Artforum’s “Portfolios” feature in March 2020.

Previous group exhibitions include Stockholm Sessions at Carl Kostyál, Stockholm, Sweden (2021); Nature Morte at The Hole, New York, NY (2021); Cynthia Daignault’s The Certainty of Others, Flag Art Foundation, New York, NY (2017); L’IM_MAGE_N, Ashes/Ashes, New York, NY (2017); Break Out, Frédéric de Goldschmidt Collection, Brussels, Belgium (2015); and Beyond the Pale, Interstate, Brooklyn, NY (2014).

The book mentioned at the end of the interview is The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World, a 2009 book written by psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist that deals with the specialist hemispheric functioning of the brain.

Chason Matthams, Corsage (aqua, blue, pink), 2022, Oil on linen over panel, 24 x 30 in., 61 x 76.2 cm. Courtesy the artist and Magenta Plains, New York.

Chason Matthams, Untitled (RED, Sebastian rig - slider), 2021, Oil on panel, 72 x 60 in., 182.9 x 152.4 cm. Courtesy the artist and Magenta Plains, New York.

Chason Matthams, Untitled (Fuji GX680, orange/purple), 2022, Oil on linen over panel, 36 x 29 in., 91.4 x 73.7 cm. Courtesy the artist and Magenta Plains, New York.