Chason Matthams

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 and two person exhibitions include Agape in the Spectrum, Magenta Plains, New York, NY (2024); Independent New York with Stan VanDerBeek, Magenta Plains, New York, NY (2023), Glimpse, Magenta Plains, New York, NY (2022); A Hell for Rainbows, Thierry Goldberg Gallery, New York, NY (2019); Tyler Wood Gallery, San Francisco, CA (2019, 2013); and Advances, None Miraculous, Thierry Goldberg Gallery, New York, NY (2015).

Previous group exhibitions include Rainbow Country, VSOP Projects, Greenport, NY (2023); Blossom, Tong Art Advisory, Shenzhen, CN (2021); Nature Morte, The Hole, New York, NY (2021); Stockholm Sessions, Carl Koystal, Stockholm, Sweden (2021); L’IM_MAGE_N, Ashes/Ashes, New York, NY (2017); Cynthia Daignault’s The Certainty of Others, Flag Art Foundation, New York, NY (2017); Break Out, Frédéric de Goldschmidt Collection, Brussels, Belgium (2015); and Beyond the Pale, Interstate, Brooklyn, NY (2014).

Born in 1981, Pacific Grove, CA
Lives and works in New York, NY

Education

2012

MFA, New York University, New York, NY

2004

BFA, New York University, New York, NY

Solo and Two Person Exhibitions

2024

Agape in the Spectrum, Magenta Plains, New York, NY

2023

Independent New York with Stan VanDerBeek, Magenta Plains, New York, NY

2022

Glimpse, Magenta Plains, New York, NY

2019

A Hell for Rainbows, Thierry Goldberg Gallery, New York, NY

2018

A Spectrum in Retrospect, Tyler Wood Gallery, New York, NY

2015

Advances, None Miraculous, Thierry Goldberg Gallery, New York, NY

2013

Untitled Narrative, Tyler Wood Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Selected Group Exhibitions

2023

Rainbow Country, VSOP Projects, Greenport, NY

2021

Blossom, Tong Art Advisory, Shenzhen, CN
Nature Morte, The Hole, New York, NY
Stockholm Sessions, Carl Koystál, Stockholm, SE

2020

Open Air, Tong, East Hampton, NY
My Hollywood Mirror: Yayoi Kusama, Chason Matthams, and Rachael Tarravechia, Launch F18, New York, NY

2019

Untitled Group Show, Danese/Corey, New York, NY
“L’IM_MAGE_N,” Ashes/Ashes, New York, NY

2017

Cynthia Daignault’s The Certainty of Others, The Flag Art Foundation, New York, NY
Ref•er•enced, Danese/Corey, New York, NY
Wax by the Edge of the Sun, Black Ball Projects, Brooklyn, NY

2015

Berg Matthams Self & Weaver, Thierry Goldberg Gallery, New York, NY
12x12x12, Black Ball Projects, Brooklyn, NY
Inside the Episode, curated by Jack Pierson, Launch F18, New York, NY
Break Out, curated by Julian Elias Bronner and Benjamin Faust Weber, Frédéric de Goldschmidt collection, Brussels, BE

2014

Beyond the Pale, Interstate Projects, Brooklyn, NY
The Morning After, Tyler Wood Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Residencies and Awards

2015

Tides Residency, Eastport, ME