Exhibition: Note To You

Matt Hoyt Note To You May 14 - June 19 2021

In the center of a gallery space, a small painting hangs in the middle of a white wall. The has a black frame and depicts a repeating grid pattern in blues, reds, and yellows. There is a hallway to the the left with a bench.

It’s difficult to write about a show I haven’t seen yet. Especially this one. I’ll try to describe the nature of the works included, the sculptures and paintings. The sculptures are a continuation of my ongoing practice: small-scale works intended to conjure subjective and therefore unpredictable associations heightened by a visual space that oscillates between the ‘real’ and ‘imagined’. The paintings are of a type that I’ve been making since around 2006, but the materials applied (tempera on illustration board) were introduced to me around 1991 by my high school art teacher, Ms. Bertie. Aside from the choice of materials, the primary inspiration/influence behind the paintings lies in the archetypal power of the grid as employed by various cultures (Latvian folk designs, Navajo weaving, American barn quilts, etc.) likely going back to prehistoric times. I really haven’t shared these paintings much publicly. In fact, they’re something I’ve turned to when life seems at its worst. Obviously high school was full of emotional torment, then a complete psychological breakdown around 2006 (I can’t remember), and now a pandemic. My hope is that the combination of these two modes of art making will create an unlikely harmony in the gallery, and will express my response to darkness. Matt Hoyt May 8 2021

Matt Hoyt (b. 1975, Mount Kisco, NY) lives and works in New York. Hoyt received a BFA in 2000 from the School of Visual Arts. Recent solo and two-person exhibitions include Einig, with Tom Thayer, Stations, Berlin, Germany, 2019; Six Winds, Bureau, New York, 2019; Chrysalis, Bureau, New York, 2017; Recent Past, 2010–2016, Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, 2016; One Another, Art in General, New York, 2015; It’s Always Nice to Meet You, Bureau, New York, 2014; 2006- 2011, Bureau, New York, 2012; Escalator to Common Art, with Mark Van Yetter, Dispatch, New York, 2008. Hoyt’s work was included in the 2012 Whitney Biennial; MoMA PS1’s 2010 Greater New York and Jay Sanders’s 2009 White Columns Annual. Recent group exhibitions include: Zentrified!, cur. by Ken Johnson, Thomas Park, New York, 2019; Objects Like Us, cur. Amy Smith-Stewart and David Adamo, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, 2018; Strange Attractors, cur. Bob Nickas, Redling Fine Art, Los Angeles, 2017; Sunlight arrives only at its proper hour, cur. Mitchell Algus and Olivia Shao, 356 Mission, Los Angeles, 2017. In 2013 Hoyt received the Grants to Artists Award from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. Hoyt’s work is in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.

A small painting depicting a grid of crisscrossing lines, rectangles, and triangles. The dominant colors are hues of maroon, white, gold, blue, and black. The frame is painted black.

Matt Hoyt, Untitled, 2006, tempera on illustration board, acrylic on wood frame, 6 ¾ × 6 ¾ × 1 ⅜ in.

In a gallery space, a small painting hangs on a wall in a black frame depicting a repeating geometric pattern. In a hallway is a larger painting also a repeating geometric pattern with a yellow frame. There is a similarly sized painting in the background in a larger gallery space.

In the hallway of a gallery space, a painting depicting a repeating geometric pattern of criss-crossing lines. The dominant colors are hues of greens and blues. The frame is painted yellow. In the background is a larger gallery space with a similar painting hung to the left on the back wall. To the right of the paintings are two small sculptures installed on shelves lower on the wall.

On a white wall a painting depicting a grid of crisscrossing lines generating many rectangles, and triangles. The dominant colors are hues of yellow, blue, and maroon. The frame is painted yellow.

Untitled, 2021, Tempera on illustration board, acrylic on wood frame, 18 ¾ × 18 ¾ × 1 ⅜ in.

In a gallery space, to the left a painting depicting a grid of crisscrossing lines. The dominant color is green. On the center wall to the left is a similar painting. The primary colors are hues of red and yellow. To the left are two small sculptures installed on a shelves at a lower height. On the right wall is a similar painting primarily in purple. In middle a similar sculpture installed at the same height as the others. To the right is green painting with the same motif.

On a long white wall, two small handmade sculptures resembling bones or other organic matter. The sculptures are hung on small gray shelves. To the right is a painting depicting a grid of crisscrossing lines generating many rectangles, and triangles. The dominant colors are hues of greens and blacks.

A close-up of a handmade sculpture resembling a bone formation or other organic material. The sculpture is resting on a gray shelf installed directly to the wall.

Untitled, 2012-2019, Various putties, styrene, acrylic and tempera paint, 5 ½ × 8 × 4 in.

A close-up of a handmade sculpture resembling an ancient pointy tool with a long handle. The sculpture is resting on a gray shelf installed directly to the wall.

Untitled, 2008-2020, various putties, metal, tinted polyurethane, acrylic, tempera and oil paint, 5 ¼ × 9 × 10 in.

On a white wall a painting depicting a grid of crisscrossing lines generating many repeating rectangles, and triangles. The dominant colors are hues of green, yellow, blue, and black. The frame is painted green.

Untitled, 2021, tempera on illustration board, acrylic on wood frame, 18 ¾ × 18 ¾ × 1 ⅜ in.

In a gallery space, two small abstract sculptures are installed on small gray shelves. Next to them is a square painting depicting a grid pattern in a range of greens. To the right is a painting of identical size and a similar pattern motif in red and yellow. To the right are two small sculptures installed on gray shelves.

Untitled, 2021, Tempera on illustration board, acrylic on wood frame, 18 ¾ × 18 ¾ × 1 ⅜ in.

A small handmade abstract sculpture resembling a kind of fossil or some combination of archaic materials. The object is resting on a gray shelve attached to a white wall.

Untitled, 2008-2020, Various putties, metal, styrene, acrylic and tempera paint, 6 ⅜ × 7 × 7 in.

A small handmade abstract sculpture resembling a kind of artifactual tool or some combination of archaic materials. The object is resting on a gray shelf attached to a white wall.

Untitled, 2015-2020, various putties, metal, plastic, acrylic, tempera and oil paint, 6 × 14 × 9 in.

On a long white wall to the left a square painting depicting a grid of crisscrossing lines rendered primarily in red and yellow. To the right two small abstract sculptures resembling handmade artifactual tools installed on small gray shelves.

On a white wall a square painting depicting a grid of crisscrossing lines generating many rectangles, and triangles. The dominant colors are hues of maroon, black, blue, and yellow. The frame is painted gray.

Untitled, 2021, Tempera on illustration board, acrylic on wood frame, 18 ¾ × 18 ¾ × 1 ⅜ in.

A handmade abstract sculpture resembling a kind of artifactual relic or some combination of archaic materials. The object is resting on a gray shelf attached to a white wall.

Untitled, 2011-2021, various putties, air dry clay, plastic, metal, acrylic and tempera paint, 11 ¼ × 15 × 9 in.

On a white wall a painting depicting a grid of crisscrossing lines generating many rectangles, and triangles. The dominant colors are hues of blue, maroon, and green. The frame is painted a hue of green.

Untitled, 2021, Tempera on illustration board, acrylic on wood frame, 18 ¾ × 18 ¾ × 1 ⅜ in.

Untitled, 2013-2021, various putties, air dry clay, metal, PVC, acrylic and tempera paint, 10 × 17 ¼ × 14 in.

On a long white gallery wall, two square paintings depicting a grid of crisscrossing lines rendered primarily in blues, purples, and greens. separating the paintings are two abstract sculptures resembling archaic amalgamations of organic material. The sculptures are resting on top gray shelves attached to the wall lower than the paintings.

In a large gallery space, three square paintings depicting a grid of crisscrossing lines in various colors. Spaced evenly between the paintings are small, abstract sculptures resembling fossils or other combinations of organic material installed on small gray shelves slightly lower than the paintings.

In a large gallery space, three square paintings depicting a grid of crisscrossing lines in various colors. Spaced evenly next to the paintings are small abstract sculptures resembling fossils or other combinations of organic material installed on small gray shelves slightly lower than the paintings. To the right is a hallway leaving to an additional gallery space with a large window.

On a white wall a painting depicting a grid of crisscrossing lines generating many rectangles, triangles, circles. The dominant colors are hues of yellow, red, blue. The frame is painted gray.

Untitled, 2021, tempera on illustration board, acrylic on wood frame, 18 ¾ × 18 ¾ × 1 ⅜ in.

Untitled, 2013-2020, Various putties, Aqua-Resin, acrylic and tempera paint, 5 ½ × 6 × 6 in.

On a white gallery wall to the left a painting consisting of a repeating geometric pattern of criss-crossing lines. The dominant colors are yellow, red and orange in a gray frame. To the right is small abstract sculpture resembling some combination of archaic materials such as bones. The object is resting on a gray shelf hung lower than the painting.

Photography by Dario Lasagni