MATT CONDRON

I use photographs that I’ve taken as a source for my painting, and though the work might appear to be Photorealism, I don’t consider myself a photo-realist painter. Thank goodness! I can’t imagine the patience required, or the strict adherence to objectivity for objectivity’s sake or the desire toward the elimination of the artist in the art altogether – these being some of the hallmarks established by the first generation painters in the genre and carried forward through to the present. Instead, I’m willing to inject myself, my story and my emotion into my imagery. In much of my work, I leave plenty of detail out. Sometimes entire backgrounds are eliminated and instead, an improvised landscape appears. The intention within my subject is to arouse emotion in the viewer. Anything goes! Longing, nostalgia, sentimentality… dread even. It’s all acceptable. I invite you to linger in front of my work. You’ll notice the brushwork and subtle inconsistencies. I’m all about verisimilitude and not exactitude. Something a little more lyrical than literal.'