Matthew Satz

We had purchased quite a large painting from Eric Freeman about 5 years ago.  Matt Satz showed up with flip flops and a ladder to hang it.  He had probably never hung a painting but could use the cash.  Eric had come over, because he forgot to sign the piece, and we watched Matt hang the piece.  At one point, Matt dropped the painting and luckily Eric and Fred happened to be standing under Matt and caught it.  The whole thing was comical looking back on it.  He hung it, not exactly where I wanted but believe me, it was good enough. 

Matt asked us if we would take a look at his work.  We went over to his studio/bedroom and checked it out.  Matt is incredibly bright.  He takes his work and the history of art very seriously.  He was working on a variety of pieces from a tar and feather work, to intricate dots on paper with pencil, drip paintings and smoke paintings.

The smoke paintings are created with fans and matches.  The smoke is literally on the canvas.  They are incredibly cool and look like they are moving.  We own a small one. 

The drip paintings are completely different.  He manipulates the paint as it drips down the canvas.  He has taken this to many different levels from 5 years ago.  I really adored Matt and his work, so I asked him to create a diptic of drips for our living room a few years ago.  He came and looked at our room, the colors etc. and off he went.  We love them.  Most people who walk into that room always ask about those 2 paintings.  They created an entire different environment once they were hung. 

Last night we went to the opening of Matt's first New York City exhibit at Wooster Projects on West 15th Street.   The place was packed and the work was almost sold out.  The pieces looked fantastic.  I felt like a proud parent.  He obviously appreciated us too because a book on Matt was launched with this exhibit and he thanked us for our support on the back page (with others) and I can't express how wonderful that made both Fred and I feel. 

Bravo to Matt for making his first round of dreams come true.  Believe me, he plans to aim much higher and no doubt he will.