Mathew Tom “Secrets of the Garden”

The Hole (86 Walker St.)

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The Hole presents Secrets of the Garden, Mathew Tom’s debut solo with the gallery.

A master of monochrome, Tom is known for meticulous and labor-intensive paintings in various tones of a single color. Through a moon gate archway built into the gallery, this Brooklyn-based artist continues his exploration of cultural iconography in considered color. By mixing motifs drawn from his mixed background, combining tones and time periods, Tom provokes the viewer’s imagination with compositions that look like we are witnessing something secret.

Throughout his work in oil on linen, Tom seeks to incorporate images that hold symbolic significance for both Eastern and Western cultures, inviting viewers to consider how different cultural traditions can be brought together to create something new and meaningful. Tom has been developing a world through his paintings called the “Society of Friends,” since 2011 where he combines elements from Asian and European artistic traditions to create his own utopian vision. In this world, humans and animals form part of a larger mythology that pursues Tom’s idyllic community.

Growing up in Florida with friendly Orlando neighbors Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, Tom was influenced by Disney and other cartoon characters with respect to their role as modern-day religious icons. By juxtaposing these images with art historical icons, Tom examines notions of cultural appropriation and their broader significance in a global imaginary. His training in Korean minhwa painting in Gwangju, Korea, has also influenced his style, which incorporates imagery from a wide range of sources, including Japanese Ukiyo-e prints, Tibetan thangkas, European botanical illustrations and Korean still-life paintings.

Borders of leafy palms frame the canvases while creating a veil of privacy for the protagonists as he turns the viewer into a peeping Tom of sorts. In the above work a pink panther smoking a cigarette leans up against bending Geisha in a suggestive manner. The nudity of the bodacious odalisques in another painting is diffused throughout by color and play; cheeky rather than naughty, the bodies rendered appear boneless and their physicality more cartoon than flesh, reminding us this is a safe space where no harm can happen.

Mathew Tom (b. 1984, Sarasota, FL) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. He holds an MFA from Goldsmiths, University of London, and has also studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Tom has been the recipient of several prestigious fellowships and residencies, including the Starr Fellowship from the Royal Academy in London. Tom has participated in numerous group shows in the US and abroad including Manscaping at The Hole in New York, Los Angeles and at Superzoom in Paris.