“I’ve known Matt and been fascinated by his work for a very long time. I don’t know anyone like him. I truly believe he is a great artist, if by “great” we mean some weird, inimitable combination of insight, visual power, and deep originality.  Sebastian Smee

 Matt Coyle stands as a masterful conjurer of the uncanny. His command of pen and ink transcends the ordinary, leading viewers into a realm where the familiar meets the disconcerting.

Coyle's artistic arsenal consists of pen, ink, gauche, air brush paints and coloured pencils—yet his noir-esque creations possess a disquieting likeness that blends into unsettling dreamscapes. The otherworldly texture of his works, rendered through the interplay of flat planes of colour and three-dimensional forms, blurs the lines between reality and illusion. Flecks of recognisable forms dissolve just as quickly as they appear. He plays with the surreal, leaving us entranced and unsure if what we see is truly there.

In the hands of Coyle, the mundane becomes mysterious. The result is an undeniably uncanny experience that perpetually eludes our comprehension. He intricately weaves the picture plane into a mesmerising tapestry, where elements fold in on themselves. The fusion of spray paint and mark-making adds layers of complexity, resulting in a kind of disturbing beauty that is both brooding and unbound. Coyle navigates the thin line between reality and illusion, light and dark. He is a versatile figure in contemporary Australian art, a true master of the uncanny.  —Anthea Mentzalis.

“I’ve known Matt and been fascinated by his work for a very long time. I don’t know anyone like him. I truly believe he is a great artist, if by “great” we mean some weird, inimitable combination of insight, visual power, and deep originality. Greatness doesn’t always involve technical virtuosity. But as anyone who has seen Matt’s pen drawings or looked closely at these works knows, he has astonishing skills - skills that can leave your jaw on the floor. 

What counts more, though, is the deep feeling of necessity you get from Matt’s work. These paintings bubble up from deep down in his being. They’re powerful, brooding, beguiling, and I think intensely beautiful. They utilize chance and intuition, but they’re also darkly orchestrated and deeply felt. You’ll never tire of looking at them. You’ll always see something more.”  —Sebastian Smee, Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic, The Washington Post.  (For an extended synopsis, click here)

 
*This exhibition was made possible by the Australian Government's Regional Arts Fund, which supports the arts in regional and remote Australia