Vanitas Paintings (2012 - present)

In 2012, I started an ongoing suite of monochrome paintings made of enamel spray paint on canvas and highly decorative frames. The works fuse painting and its formal presentation into a single visual experience and examine perceived issues of taste and authority within the theater of an exhibition space. These works were specifically informed by Dutch vanitas/still life painting of the 16th-17th centuries, Piet Mondrian’s Neo-Plastic paintings from the 1920s-1940s, and the Radical Painting Group active in NYC during the 1970s-1980s, plus my work running MINUS SPACE for more than 20 years.

Exhibition view of Matthew Deleget: Vanitas, Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA, 2014

Matthew Deleget, Vanitas (True Blue), 2014, Enamel spray paint on canvas and decorative frame, 23 x 27 x 3 inches (#55)

Matthew Deleget, Vanitas (Sun Yellow), 2014, Enamel spray paint on canvas and decorative frame, 21 x 25 x 3.5 inches (#51)

Matthew Deleget, Vanitas (Dover White), 2014, Enamel spray paint on canvas and decorative frame, 19.75 x 23.75 x 2.5 inches, Private collection, Connecticut (#59)

Matthew Deleget, Vanitas (Pewter Gray), 2014, Enamel spray paint on canvas and decorative frame, 21.5 x 25.5 x 3 inches (#52)

Matthew Deleget, Vanitas (Tomato), 2014, Enamel spray paint on canvas and decorative frame, 22.5 x 26.5 x 3.5 inches, Private collection, Los Angeles, CA (#53)

Matthew Deleget, Vanitas (Ford Blue), 2014, Enamel spray paint on canvas and decorative frame, 16.25 x 19.25 x 1.5 inches, Private collection, New York, NY (#58)

Matthew Deleget, Vanitas (Bright Yellow), 2014, Enamel spray paint on canvas and decorative frame, 19.5 x 23.25 x 3 inches (destroyed)

Matthew Deleget, Vanitas (Bright Gold), 2014, Enamel spray paint on canvas and decorative frame, 26.25 x 22.25 x 3.5 inches (#54)

Matthew Deleget, Vanitas (Black), 2014, Enamel spray paint on canvas and decorative frame, diptych, 19.25 x 15.25 x 1.5 inches each, 19.25 x 32.5 x 1.5 inches overall (#50)

Matthew Deleget, Dead Before Death, 2012, Gold enamel spray paint over canvas and decorative wooden frame, triptych, 26 x 56 inches overall, 1 panel 26 x 22 inches, 2 panels 16 x 14 inches; Installation view in Matthew Deleget: Ceremony, Alejandra von Hartz Gallery, Miami, FL, 2012 (#1)