Occidental Voids Painting

Matthew Metzger is a painter concerned with the tensions between illusion and the material properties of paint. He often creates his own pigments by grinding found or discarded natural materials such as marble, iron, titanium, lye and other minerals combined with traditional mediums like oil and egg, transforming them into sensorial, abstract images of light, atmosphere and landscape. His evocative, poetic work deals with themes of movement, weather, transience and the void. References to the histories of color field abstraction, minimalism and Chinese landscape painting belie Metzger's intentions to remain outside typical categorizations. Metzger, who is self-taught, says "for me, I have to be on the outside in order to understand the inside. One interest is how an object can reflect that." Originally an attorney, Metzger now focuses on art and design. In 2012, Southwest Art Magazine named him one of the 21 Under 31 painters in the United States to collect. His paintings have been featured in numerous publications including The Paris Review, Poets Artists Magazine, Manifest Gallery's 2013 International Painting Annual, Flyway Journal, and in numerous solo and group shows.