MATT LEINES: Promiscuous Takes

Marvin Gardens is pleased to present Promiscuous Takes, a solo exhibition of new black and white ink drawings by New York based artist Matt Leines. This show of fourteen pen-and-ink works on paper is part of an ongoing series of 100 portrait busts in the same format. Part psychedelic, part glitch, these works are made by combining sourced shapes and patterns into a unified portrait that still retains hints of its disparate originations. These hints of the image threatening to pull back apart are an integral part of their attitude and strength. Regardless of where the original source was pulled, the treatment is flattened into two dimensions using only the black of the ink and the white of the paper. However, even the simplest of lines is detailed with a finely jagged zig-zag pattern, a micro and obsessive mark-making decision that is quintessentially Leines. Indeed, every shape and outline of these works hast hat buzzing edge when inspected closely, while the characters retain their cool, matter-of-fact feeling from afar. Leines scours the internet with a voracious collecting appetite, filing visual material away for later use. Sources range far and wide. Just to name a few they vary from souvenir cups, Neolithic rock carvings, punk flyers, fast fashion, art cannon, all the way to the dirty old homemade doll ignored at the flea market. The sea of sources is pared down to funnel concisely into the final image, showcasing the artist’s wide range of visual adaptation. Bringing the work to a new level of maturity in the ease with which he moves through the breadth of his sources to create something new.

Image: Matt Leines, Charisma, 2023, Ink on paper, 12 x 9 inches