February 23, 2017
Matt Gondek's work can be described as explosive, colorful and memorable. He takes familiar characters from cartoons and comic books and adds his own twist. Matt's art came into our workshop when a collector needed an original canvas stretched over a custom hardwood stretcher. His Homer Simpson and Wolverine canvas was so full of interesting details that we kept noticing different things throughout the stretching process.
Yvette with the completed Matt Gondek canvas.
Matt Gondek is from Pittsburgh, PA and he began his career as a freelance illustrator for bands around Pittsburgh. After sitting inside on his computer all day got old, he began teaching himself how to paint on canvas. He wasn't always painting exploding cartoon characters. As a matter of fact, Matt's early career started with him creating little monsters and creatures. The monster route ended up opening doors for snowboard and skateboard collaborations as well as other product launches. After running a t-shirt company with a friend he met through his band illustration gigs it was time for a change. Matt ended up moving to Los Angeles, and his mural painting took off. He's painted murals all over the US with Secret Walls, Outer Space Project, as well as completing a painting tour with Patch Whiskey and GhostBeard. Furthermore, for one of his solo canvas shows in Los Angeles, he painted a few murals around the city including a melting Donald Trump. Recently, Matt just returned from Hong Kong where he painted a mural and acted as a judge for Secret Walls.
Matt Gondek working on an exploding Simpsons mural.
We built a custom hardwood stretcher to stretch Matt's colorful canvas. The end result was nothing short of amazing. This was a great project to work on and we're psyched to work with more multi-medium artists in the future. To catch up with Matt and keep up with his latest projects, check out his Instagram. You can also follow us on Instagram to see our newest framing projects.
Matt Gondek's melting Donald Trump mural in Los Angeles.
