#79 with Matthew Weinstein

Welcome back to ARTMATTERS: The Podcast for Artists My guest today is artist and writer Matthew Weinstein. Over the course of his career, Matthew has exhibited extensively in museums and galleries throughout the United States and internationally. His solo museum exhibitions include the Johnson Museum at Cornell University, the Orlando Museum of Art, the Mint Museum, the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, and the Kunsthalle Wien in Vienna. In addition to painting, his practice has also included writing, animation, film, and interactive media. His work has been featured in The New York Times, T Magazine, Artforum, Art in America, and The New Yorker, and is held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum, the Yale University Art Gallery, the Denver Art Museum, and numerous other public and private collections. I sat down with Matthew in his Greenpoint studio, where he told me why he believes every painting has a beauty mandate and why he distrusts art whose primary goal is to mean something, saying that meaning can feel like litter in a painting.  We discuss beauty versus prettiness, humor, queerness, and the way doubt and impatience are ever-present in his studio practice. Matthew also reflects on obsession, arguing that for some artists it isn't a choice, and that it is neither good nor bad, but simply the thing that fuels the work. We discuss the creative crisis that led him to explore animation and why painting and writing remain the bedrock of everything he does. Matthew also discusses his airbrush collaboration paintings,  the influence the artist Hiroshege has had on his current work and why it has taken Matthew years to figure out how to paint a straight line. Support this podcast by clicking HERE and becoming a Patreon Supporter! *Support this podcast by clicking* HERE *and becoming a Patreon Supporter!* If you're enjoying the podcast so far, please rate, review, subscribe and SHARE ON INSTAGRAM!   If you have any questions you want answered, write in to artmatterspodcast@gmail.com  host: Isaac Mann www.isaacmann.com insta: @isaac.mann guest: Matthew Weinstein www.matthewweinstein.com insta: @matthewaweinstein Thank you as always to ARRN, the Detroit-based artist and instrumentalist, for the music.