Matt Shane creates paintings, drawings, and large-scale collaborative installations rooted in diverse landscape traditions. Working from photographs, sketches, and memories, he translates moments of heightened perception found in unfamiliar places while traveling. In these works, colour not only describes form and atmosphere but also evokes shifting emotional states. Fluid passages mingle with dense impasto, while oil-stick hatching traces the contours of an elusive yet resonant terrain. Existing at the intersection of observation and reverie, Shane's works suggest that the experience of a place continues to flourish long after the initial encounter has passed.

Born in 1981 in Vancouver, Shane lives and works in Montreal, where he earned his Master of Fine Arts from Concordia University. His work has been presented in numerous residencies and exhibitions, including at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, the Midlands Arts Centre in Birmingham, and the Teckningsmuseet in Sweden. Shane teaches drawing and painting at Concordia University and is also recognized for his large-scale collaborative works with Jim Holyoak. His work is held in numerous collections, including those of Hydro-Québec, the City of Laval, Bank of Montreal, Desjardins, and several major private collections.

PRESS

Times Colonist by Robert Amos:

Forestrial Brain, a collaborative installation-painting by Matt Shane of Pender Island and Jim Holyoak of Montreal at Open Space on Fort Street, is the biggest, most complex and engaging artistic creation I can ever remember in that space . . . read more

Galleries West by Portia Priegert:

Jim Holyoak and Matt Shane are doing things backwards. They will hold their “opening” reception Aug. 25 at the end of their show at Open Space . . . read more

Body Literature Magazine by Jessica Mensch:

Matt Shane‘s practice is split between painting, drawing and installation, while firmly embedded in the realm of landscape. His pictorial worlds assemble an array of influences: European Romantics, Chinese ink painters, the Hudson River School, the Group of Seven, science fiction, photojournalism . . . read more