"Human Conditions: Portraits of a Fraying Age"
— Matthew Felix Sun
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Our Winter of Discontent, 2018, oil on canvas, 22”x28”, $5,000
Commiseration, 2021, oil on canvas, 22”x28”, $1,500
Query, 2024, oil on canvas, 30”x24”, $1,500
Postscript, 2021, oil on canvas, 28”x22”, $1,500
Pierce, 2011, oil on canvas, 24”x24”, $800
Away, 2018, oil on canvas, 24”x20”, $1,300
Remembrance, 2025, oil on canvas, 22”x28”, $1,500
Night Train, 2022, oil on canvas, 24”x30”, $1,000
Hiatus, 2024, oil on canvas, 24”x30”, $1,300
Pillar, 2021, oil on canvas, 24”x30”, $800
Liberation Road, 2020, oil on canvas, 18”x24”, private collection
Grandma, 2003, oil on canvas, 40”x30”, $5,000
Foreshadow, 2021, oil on canvas, 28”x22”, $550
Portal, 2023, oil on canvas, 30”x24”, $1,000
Companion, 2003, oil on canvas, 24”x30”, private collection
Seclusion, 2021, oil on canvas, 28”x22”, $750
Memories of Childhood, 2022, oil on canvas, 22”x28”, $2,500
Lethargy, 2022, oil on canvas, 24”x30”, $900
Commune, 2021, oil on canvas, 22”x28”, $1,000
Disperse, 2022, oil on canvas, 20”x30”, $1,600
The Wall, 2018, oil on canvas, 18”x24”, $1,200
I depict life frankly and critically, as visual surfaces and interior qualities. Instead of verisimilitude, I strive to discover and capture what is hidden, emphasizing the implicit and the unspoken.
Though I sometimes use more vibrant colors to express enhanced emotions, or allow more exuberant colors to generate a dimension of visual excitement, acknowledging that joy remains, I tend to narrow my palette, deliberately stripping away the noise.
For Human Conditions: Portraits of a Fraying Age, I have assembled a group of twenty-one oils painted over the last twenty-some years, mostly portraits and figurative pieces. The majority of these are black and white, while some are mainly monochromatic with muted coloration, and a few are inverted images like photographic negatives. All the sitters, singly or in groups, are melancholic, sad, yearning, or resigned. These images comment on the often sad, isolated nature of modern life, and on a social fabric torn apart by class divides and political schisms, depriving people of identity, hope, and self-determining agency.
Presenting these images in muted tones, or even black and white, transforms the sitters into ghostly silhouettes that evoke fading memory and a distorted world, where the familiar has become alien and corrupt.
The exhibition also strives to capture the paradox of our time: a world more "connected" than ever, yet populated by individuals who feel more lonely, miserable, and profoundly divided than at any point in history.
If you are interested in purchasing the art showcased in this online exhibition, please send an email to gallery@2727.today with the subject "Interest in Purchase". Please include the title of the piece and the artist's name in your email. We are also happy to provide more information about the artist and put you in contact with them for further inquiries.
The prices and the artwork's availability might change after the show. Please contact gallery@2727.today for updated information.