Spotlight Artist

Matthew Tung

Northeast
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Featured in New American Paintings

Artist Statement

Visually my work is on the precipice of abstraction, its content comprised of buildings in a state of suspension. Abandoned and void of their built purpose, these buildings now exist in an in-between space, no longer a dwelling for people or industry, they await demolition, repurposing, or simply being forgotten. The breakdown of their idealized form transforms them into monuments of entropy and reminders of the impossibility of utopias.

Several dualities are at play in my drawings, from the light vastness of the un-drawn paper activating the weighty concreteness of the densely drawn buildings to the emptiness repeated in both the blackened windows and the white of the page. Each drawing is measured and calculated, yet, as in the buildings they capture, the initial intent is always metamorphosed by the passage of man and time, each drawn mark becoming a record of my hand and my time, transforming the pieces from an objective, impersonal examination into a personal, labored meditation.

Artist's Additional works

Works shared by the artist outside of their featured New American Paintings selections

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Featured artwork

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