Influenced by the Dutch Masters such as Hieronymus Bosch and William Kalf, Matthew Hansel’s paintings create worlds of heaven and hell, remixing art styles and exotic ideas from the depths of his unbridled imagination. Universes imagined by Hansel attract and repel in equal measure as they blend amazing oil painting skills with the irrational mind. Letting himself be seduced by his demons, Hansel creates artworks that allow us to safely contemplate things that normally scare or disgust us, like death and monsters, while also considering what is contemporary about these vintage uglies. The artist’s career began with recreating Dutch master paintings for movie sets, and this experience continues to influence his work as his paintings all act as an homage to art history. Hansel describes himself as a child of the change from an analog to a digital world, and his oeuvre serves as a visual consequence of this development.
Matthew Hansel had solo presentations at The Hole, New York, NY USA; PM/AM, London, UK; Waserman Projects, Detroit, MI USA; Yuka Contemporary, Tokyo, Japan, among others. Group presentations include the Hive Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China; Rolando Anselmi, Rome, Italy; Nino Mier Gallery, New York, NY USA; Braverman Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel; Lee Eugean Gallery, Seoul, Korea; Galerie Droste, Düsseldorf, Germany; Joshua Liner Gallery, New York, NY USA; Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, NY USA; Gagosian Gallery, Athens, Greece.
Matthew Hansel will have a solo exhibition with rodolphe janssen in the summer of 2024.
