Matt Enger
Bakersfield #11
2021

About the Item

Bakersfield #11 2021 Cast acrylic on canvas 10 x 10 inches Signed, titled and dated on verso Matt Enger’s new body of work evokes a mystical experience combining aspects of expressive high gloss painting and printmaking to create dense rhythmic patterns of color. An evocative form of hyper-elevated pop-art and gestural abstraction which adhere to his long standing dialogue with American history. The paintings seem to magnify the process of drawing and mark making and allow the viewer to engage in a self-referential paradox into the art itself. A meta fiction of sorts, paintings of comic book abstract painting, more akin to psychedelic liquid light installations of the 60’s than to the work of referential pop artists such as Lichtenstein, Warhol, or Rauschenberg. Enger honors our artist and musician ancestors from whom he draws inspiration and their ability to create beautiful works that even for a moment are capable of uplifting the human spirit from the day to day cares of the world and the dark side of humanity The works are masterfully executed through a unique Cast Acrylic process he developed with his late brother Mark over the past 20 years which result in scintillating high gloss surfaces that resonate with visual depth seldom seen in contemporary painting. Matt Enger is currently based in Newark, New Jersey and was born in 1963 in Fort Sill, Oklahoma and grew up in Kansas, Europe and Asia. After graduating from Oklahoma State University with a B.F.A. he moved to New York to work for ULAE- Universal Limited Arts Editions. Shortly after he was joined by his brother Mark and began exhibiting collaboratively in New York in 1990. The Enger Brothers founded print and art studio Exploding Sky Worldwide in the Lower East Side. Established a cult following and began collaborating through projects and silk screen printing with Robert Rauschenberg, Kiki Smith, Donald Baechler, Keith Haring, and more, plus fashion designers such as Catherine Malandrino, Rebecca Dannenberg, and Spooky. Enger has presented regularly in a variety of individual settings, as well as Downtown Venues such as The Universal Limited Art Editions Gallery, Max Fish, Jack Tilton Gallery, Amy Lee Projects, Christopher Henry Gallery and the Brian Leo Projects Space. This is Enger’s first show at IFAC Arts.

Creator:

Matt Enger (1962)

Creation Year:

2021

Dimensions:

Height: 10 in (25.4 cm)Width: 10 in (25.4 cm)

Medium:

Acrylic Polymer,Vinyl

Movement & Style:

Abstract

Period:

2010-