Matt Gordon is a mixed media artist working out of Northville, Michigan. He attended both the College of Art & Design in Columbus, Ohio and Center of Creative Studies (CCS) in Detroit. He strives to make well crafted and highly detailed acrylic paintings and pencil drawings, along with the occasional 3-D fabrication thrown in there to satisfy sculptural needs and to provide live models for things that don’t really exist but need to look like they do. The paintings and drawings have been parts or scenes of an ongoing story line that he has been working on since 1998 with the ultimate goal of having them made into a big and wonderful illustrated storybook.
1xRUN Thru Interview
Fronts Dulcimer by Matt Gordon
1xRun: Is the original still for sale?
Matt Gordon: Yes, actually the original is for sale at 323East.com or here at 1xRUN.
1xRun: When was the piece drawn/created?
Matt Gordon: Early 2012.
1xRun: Tell us how the idea and execution came about?
Matt Gordon: I struggled coming up with solid images for a while and finally figured it out when I realized that the music I was trying to paint about will always be cooler and better than one of my paintings. So I stopped trying to make a painting about Bowie’s Starman or Iggy’s Raw Power — and I kinda brushed aside the questionable hours spent listening to Steve Millers’ Greatest Hits album on repeat (I got busted accidentally singing along while running on the treadmill at the gym. WOO HOO!)
So I stopped listening to music and sought out the nerdiest podcasts I could find. One was about vintage Star Wars figures and one called The Mego Museum (It’s about the awesome Barbie doll sized super hero dolls we played with in the 70’s and early eighties.) Those became my friends and inspiration for two months as I was reminded how much fun playing and just being a kid was. Those happy memories brought me to success as I believe this to be on of my best finished paintings to date. I still listen to those podcasts today as they are rather enjoyable.
1xRun: How long did the piece take?
Matt Gordon: This piece took about 2 months.
1xRun: What is unique about this piece?
Matt Gordon: It seems to be happy.
1xRun: Why should people buy this print?
Matt Gordon: It’s a good one.
1xRun: Describe the piece in one gut reaction word.
Matt Gordon: Pretty.
Run #00242b // May 30, 2012 - Jun 10, 2012
1xRUN: What artists inspired you early on?
Matt Gordon: I like all artists good and bad.The painting styles I like the most though are the Flemish masters and the realists. Everything inspires me.
1xRUN: Do you listen to music while you work? If so what? If not then what is your environment like when you work?
Matt Gordon: I listen to cbc2 radio and coast to coast am sometimes. But whatever I feel like will inspire I will turn on.
1xRUN: If you could collaborate with any living artist who would it be and why?
Matt Gordon: I got to collaborate with modest mouse on an album cover a few years back so that was cool for me.I would love to be involved in anyway with a Wes Anderson film project as one of my pipe dreams. I, along with half the world think his movies are the greatest live action paintings ever.
Wes Anderson
1xRUN: If you could collaborate with any deceased artists who would it be and why?
Matt Gordon: I would have loved to study under Norman Rockwell.
1xRUN: Do you listen to music while you work? If so what? If not then what is your environment like when you work?
Matt Gordon: I listen to cbc2 radio and coast to coast am sometimes. But whatever I feel like will inspire I will turn on.
1xRUN: What else do you have in the works?
Matt Gordon:
1xRUN: Where can people find you across the internette?
Matt Gordon:
-1xRUN.com