In Matthew's City series he takes everyday scenes and uses paint to dissolve them and make them strange / otherworldly. He is interested in the dreamlike quality of paint, and how signifiers like clothing, flat roofs, tropical trees can create a sense of 'otherness' - as belonging to another country. 'Crow' uses the oiliness and weight of oil paint to explore the properties of these dark birds - ubiquitous in India. Matthew sets his crows in a landscape of layered paint - their shiny black bodies are always the most dense and thickly painted areas.
Matthew Krishanu is a painter based in London. He completed an MA in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins College in 2009. He paints and draws from imagination, memory, and photographs, varying media to suit his subject. He likes to construct ambiguous narratives in his work – often through placing people in imagined or remembered settings.
Recent exhibitions include Aviary, Transition Gallery, London (2016); Contemporary Drawings from Britain, Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts Gallery, Xi’an Province, China (2015); Another Country, The Nunnery, London (2014); We Were Trying to Make Sense, 1Shanthiroad Gallery, Bangalore, India (2013).
Matthew’s essays and articles have been published by The Courtauld Gallery, British Council and a-n Magazine. He has curated collaborative exhibitions for English Heritage and Iniva, and co-curated exhibitions at the RIBA and Whitechapel Gallery. He is a visiting lecturer at Chelsea College of Arts and teaches painting at Camden Arts Centre and The Courtauld Gallery.