New Paintings by Matthew Girson: Still Life at 4:00am

Matthew Girson’s paintings invite us to see in diminishing light. At 4:00am colors dissolve into grey and our eyes struggle to discern detail and form. As in previous work, Matthew relies on restrained color and the physicality of the paint to reflect on loss, absence, and things we may be lacking as we look at brush marks on his painted surfaces. The marks and the surfaces are just as important to him as the subjects he paints, but the things he paints are not as important as the things he chooses not to include.

These still life paintings depict empty domestic vessels and floral prints. Absent are the flowers themselves, their color, and their intimations of caring and beauty. Instead, the caring is in the attention to touch, nuance of brushwork, and subtle shifts in color. That color is present although slow to reveal itself. The paintings are generous, albeit slow to give. Their beauty is gleaned in the duration of time taken with them, as they patiently make themselves present.