"Shady Characters" artist profile: Matthew Ryan Sharp

Today, we have our third of seven artist profile/interviews thanks to Brian Colin as he sends us this exclusive sit-down with Matthew Ryan Sharp! We get a peek at his submissions for this show, as well as a glimpse into his studio! This show is featuring a cast of 7 artists who include: Matthew Ryan Sharp, Project Detonate, H.C. Warner, Ben Walker, Tyler Coey, Brian Colin and Toby Stanger, and is set to go down on August 6, 2010 from 7pm - Midnight at Alcove Gallery in Atlanta. Take a minute, and get to know these artists as we ramp up for what promises to be a great show!

For those unfamiliar with you and your work can you tell us a little about yourself and your craft?
Well, my name is Matthew Ryan Sharp. I live and work out of my home studio in the Chicago outskirts with my wife & 3 pug dogs. I am a graphic designer for a newspaper, I am a part time college instructor, I am a part time creative director for a clothing/print company and I am a full-time exhibiting painter. I paint on paper & hand built custom wood panels in a mixture of acrylic, spraypaint, collage & house enamel. Combine carnivals, traditional american tattoo culture, traveling midways, the dust-bowl era and vintage advertising...you kinda arrive at what my work is.

With Shady Characters being the title of the show, how does your work represent this theme?
I am a character based painter, so I feel that the most important element to my pieces is the character, their tattered clothes, beaten brow & hardened exterior. Hopefully all the characters in my work are a little off-putting since most all off them are based off people who I have encountered/interacted with. I have been around shady characters my entire life, I suppose it goes back to the whole: "you paint what you know" sorta idea. There is a different breed of person in the Midwest, I like to think that you can catch a glimpse of that in what I do.

Is this a theme that is regularly seen in your work?
I think characters are interesting subject matter & I paint based on what is visually interesting to me. I plan on continuing with my theme of hard working, midwestern based struggle because that is what I am most familiar with. I don't see myself ever painting mountain scenes or fruit baskets since I am not surrounded by those things, so I feel like I would be lying to myself & to the people who view my work. I see a lot of dishonesty in the art world of today, people painting things that really have no meaning or substance. How many beautiful women with long flowing hair, painted with a soft pastel color palette on stained wood do we really need? I see a lot of the same shit and it is boring & un-original. Who knows, maybe I am unoriginal too...just old & bitter.

And lastly on the Shady Character front, do you see yourself as a Shady Character?
I have a beard, lots of visible tattoos, a Harley and I say "F*ck" alot. I enjoy graffiti, porn and I am not above punching a sh*t-talker in the mouth at the drop of a dime. I own a switchblade & brass knuckles. By all accounts, I probably would be considered a shady character.

Do the subjects in your pieces represent you or anything that you are going through?
All of my work is based off things I have or am going through in some shape or form. I have a father who was a heroin addicted murderer & my mother struggles with alcoholism on a daily basis. I live in the midwest and I have had to work hard & earn everything that I have achieved. Hopefully my work shows this a bit. I don't know how you could be honest & NOT have elements in your work that represent you or your life's events.

What else do you have going on in the near future that you would like to let folks know about?
I have a couple pieces going to California for a show titled: BAD HABITS in August, A possible 5-man in Florida in September, A solo show & book/product release in October and a 2-man show in Chicago through Nov-Dec. I have also started booking stuff for next year as well.