Some artists, you can pick their work from a lineup. Others like Matthew Brandt? They offer something new with each new endeavor they take on. That was a big portion of what we talked about as he admittingly sat in a cafe on the east coast while I kept things cool in his native California. And while hearing his take on his various artistic styles, it was what he did with his Stretch Armstrong that caused me to want to ask more. Which is right where we begin this bicoastal chat.
Kendra: Being born in the early ’80s you got to grow up with some of the best pop culture out there. Were you inspired by any particular cartoons, movies, toys even when it came to creating your own art?
Matthew Brandt: The first thing I think of is the toy figure, Stretch Armstrong. It was a squishy toy filled with a liquid gel material. Eventually, there was a leak, and the toy suddenly became more interesting.
I began using his liquid insides for other purposes like making pigments and gluing things together. I actually used this to glue all the comic book posters to my room wall. As a kid in the 80’s I wanted to be a comic book illustrator. I was a huge X-Men, Spawn, anything Image comics fan. My favorite thing to do was to wake up early Saturday morning and watch cartoons and draw comic book characters. I spent a lot of time making my own comic books and characters.
Kendra: Being from LA, you actually got your BFA on the east coast but returned to UCLA for your MFA. Was that decision program-based or do you find yourself more creative in almost perfect weather?
Matthew Brandt: I was born in LA, and it has always been home to me. When I moved back home from NYC, there was a familiarity that made me more comfortable and allowed me to be more be bolder. Perhaps it was the weather, but I think it was also friends and family. The weather conduces a kind of casual nature that is more my style. As I type these words I am in a Manhattan café and it is currently snowing. I can see people slip sliding along. It is harder to move in cold weather.
Kendra: Your overall style is hard to pinpoint for people not in the know when it comes to art. You have everything from forest scenes to lakes to the Burnout pieces. Are you not one for labels?
Matthew Brandt: I think nowadays, not having a specific label has its own kind of labeling system itself, such as multi-disciplinary or something like that. But I wouldn’t consider my work multi-disciplinary but rather pretty straightforward picture making. Though the work may look very different between each series.
In feeling, there is a common thread that runs throughout. It’s the thread of photographic techniques that I seem to always follow. I like playing with various industrialized image-making techniques. I grew up with traditional and practical ideas of photography (my dad is a commercial photographer). Photographs were always taken around me. So in a way, this is some of my interest to expand these personal relations of the material of photographic representation.
I also felt that I have always lived in a kind of schizophrenic culture. There is always so much multitasking and things going on that perhaps influences the work. We all have different moods and headspaces, why not try to reflect this?
Kendra: Speaking of the trees, the pieces you have centered around the oxygen givers give out a real spooktacular vibe. With that, if you could paint your own depiction of a horror movie, which would it be and why?
Matthew Brandt: The Sea of Trees by Gus Van Sant was interesting to me when thinking about my own experiences of being lost in the forest. For me, the forest is an open-ended subject that can operate like an abstraction to allow one to project one’s own subjectivities (similar to a seascape). This movie portrayed that better than most other scary forest movies. And this was kind of what I was going for when making those forest images. At the time of making these works, I would watch any film with a forest in it. But in general, when I am wrapping my mind around a subject or material, I will watch movies as a way to investigate and help motivate the process.
Kendra: Your work can be found in very notable places around the country, and at home at The Getty and LACMA. How does one wrap their head around being in such places?
Matthew Brandt: Perhaps my head is still wrapping, but this is obviously great because I know that they will take good care of the work and it will live on. It is comforting to have something within the museum fortresses. Also, a perk is that I can now always enter some of those museums for free.
Kendra: What do you think it takes for artists to achieve that art history book making level with their art?
Matthew Brandt: Hmm, this is a tricky subject because art history is a malleable thing. I suppose once it’s in a book there is a kind of punctuation. But now with more free forms of information, I believe art history is no longer the rigid form it once was. Perhaps it helps to know some Art historians or at least hope that they know you.
Kendra: Lastly, what is going on with your art in the coming months? Any showings or galleries we can be on the lookout for?
Matthew Brandt: I currently installed a show titled “Rocks and Eagles” in the Newark Museum. It opened March 8th and will be up for a year. There are a few different projects operating in the show, but in the largest room, there will be a display of 100 daguerreotypes of bald eagles fighting.
