Matthew Boyle

I imagine wandering figures where the boundary of our bodies and our sense of self is at play. My paintings are an exploration of a world in which figures, nature, and the built environment merge into a walking concept, in an attempt to both challenge our own identities and force an association between what we appear to be and what actions we take. Bodies are buildings emitting radio waves, houses breathe, and plant life becomes an extension of the nervous system. Many of the works in this show can be considered abstract, in that they struggle to define a single subject and are filled with expressive gestural paint marks. However, each piece features elements of figures and buildings, oftentimes blurring the line between abstract expressionism and surrealist compositions. As you view these works I hope you’ll appreciate both the colorful, gestural emotion from a distance, and some recurring detailed narrative elements peeking through the paint.

"Sojourn Through Ambient Spaces" In this series of paintings I ponder the intersection of self, city, and community, and the ways our environment can become intertwined in our identities. Situated in the foreground of these works are creatures carrying cities on their backs, which seem to morph into musical instruments, furniture, and other architectural elements. I painted this body of work after a trip to Europe in May 2024 – visiting Berlin, Gdańsk, Warsaw, Kraków and Prague. Traveling by train and carrying a suitcase, wandering through pre-industrial old towns (stare miasto), and visiting museums housing collections of artists – some of which I'd discover for the first time – made a huge impact and temporarily changed my painting practice from a more abstract expression to the illustrative, surrealist vignettes on display here. I have long been fascinated by the mid-twentieth century Situationist International, a movement drawn from Dada, Surrealism, and other literary philosophies – which called for "a moment of life concretely and deliberately constructed by the collective organization of a unitary ambience and a game of events." Their concept of Dérive describes an experimental mode of navigating through urban spaces in order to break the fasçade of commodity/consumption-based activities. This very art show is a perfect example – authentic gatherings of micro-communities based on art, poetry, and community. This body of work contains portraits of mobile city-walkers as they pause in this ambience, like traveling theater troupes or moving musical instruments. Growing up here in St. Petersburg, and returning after living in a big city for 20 years, I often find myself walking through my own memories, and searching for the exact location of places long replaced by new construction. In this way, I carry those old places and the communities they once supported in the little ghost town of my memory. Thank you for taking your own sojourn through these works, my hope is that they might bring colorful wonder to your eyes, and give you an opportunity to think about what your own wandering city looks like. – Matthew Boyle 2025