Matt Jones
b 1980, Rochester, NY
Lives & works in New York City
Matt Jones is a New York–based artist whose work examines how time and attention accumulate through recurrence. Using persistent forms—tree rings, mushrooms, eyes, fingers, insects, and suns—he builds images that hold multiple temporalities at once. These elements return altered, allowing meaning to emerge through relation rather than fixed narrative.
His work balances structure and drift, intimacy and estrangement. By treating images as transitional objects—simultaneously symbolic and materially present—Jones creates spaces where viewers encounter layered time directly.
Recent exhibitions include Up/Rooted at the Jewish Museum of Maine; Drawn To Drawing at Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco; and The Innerworld of the Outerworld of the Innerworld at Soy Capitán, Berlin. He is the founder of Gideon’s Bakery, an interview platform devoted to sustained conversations with contemporary painters.
MATT JONES
b. 1980. Rochester, NY.
Lives and works in New York, NY.
EDUCATION
Yale University School of Art Norfolk. (2001)
Cooper Union. BFA. (2002)
Hunter College. MFA. (2020)
ONE, TWO, & THREE PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2025
Dawn. The Parsonage. Searsport. ME.
2024
In Advance of a Visit. studio e. Seattle. WA.
Ecphoric Wonderland. Automat. Philadelphia. With Heather Drayzen and In June Park. Curated by Whitson Ramsey.
2023
Wanderlooking. Gallery 178. New York. NY. With Katita Miller.
2022
Nowhere Fast. Olympia. New York. With Cassidy Early and Jessi Li.
2018
Time Walk. Gallery Jerome Pauchant. Paris. (Catalog)
2016
Passion as Model for Patience. Jerome Pauchant Gallery. Paris. With Quentin Euverte.
2015
Ancestral Recall. Jerome Pauchant Gallery. Paris. (Catalog)
A horrendous assembly. clawing and jerking. all mashed tightly into specks that rest upon the seeing orb. eventually layering as a pearl does into kingdoms of permanent escape. The Atlantic Conference. New York. With Eric Wiley.
2014
Geister. The Richard Massey Foundation. New York.
Relic Field. Bodson Gallery. Art Brussels. Brussels. Belgium.
Super Smash Brothers. Creative Time. New York. Performance. With Kadar Brock.
2013
Planetary. Bleecker Street Arts Club. New York.
2012
Evil Dead 2. Horton Gallery. Berlin. Germany. Catalog. With Kadar Brock. (Catalog)
The Dinner Party. Anonymous Gallery. New York. (Performance)
2011
Multiverse. Freight + Volume. New York.
2010
Inner Space. House Gallery. Salt Lake City. UT. (Catalog)
2008
Everlasting. Buia Gallery. New York.
2006
Death by Misadventure. Buia Gallery. New York.
2005
Human After All. Buia Gallery. New York. NY. With Kadar Brock.
The Last Days of Terror Mansion. Artists Space. New York. NY. (Performance)
2003
Goya is Way Better than You. Box Gallery. Brisbane. Australia.
2002
Painting Pals. The Cooper Union. New York. NY. With Kirsten Deirup.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025
Up/Rooted. Maine Jewish Museum. Portland. ME.
Drawn to Drawing. Hosfelt Gallery. San Francisco. CA.
More Light!. Gallery 178. New York.
2023
Six Stages. Project Art Distribution (P.A.D.). NADA. New York.
Art from the Upper Rooms. Sanctuary. OSA. New York.
2022
The Innerworld of the Outerworld of the Innerworld. Soy Capitan. Berlin.
In with the Old // (Nearly) Six Years of Project Art Distribution. Yeh Art Gallery. St John’s University. Jamaica. NY.
In with the Old // (Nearly) Six Years of Project Art Distribution. Richard and Dolly Maass Gallery. SUNY Purchase. Purchase. NY.
Slight of Hand. Mepaintsme. Online.
Shushan’s Hands. Tappeto Volante/Studio Archive Project. New York. (Online)
2021
A Gathering. The Catskills. New York.
The Catskills Presents: Heavy Show. Spring Break Art Show. New York. Curated by Leonard Reibstein.
Chromatic Vigils / Low Tides. Upstate Art Weekend. Hudson Opera House. Hudson. New York. Curated by The Sphinx Northeast.
Visions of Kindness. Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center. Moscow. Russia.
2 Gathering. Studio E. Seattle. WA.
Known Unknowns. Studio Archive Project. Online. Curated by mepaintsme.
2020
Assemblage: The MFA Show. The Olympia Project. New York.
Purple. Underdonk. Brooklyn. New York.
Living Room. Galerie Jerome Pauchant. Paris.
Leyline of Abundance. Puppy American. Bronx. New York.
Trust Fall. Hunter MFA Online Viewing Room. (Online)
Gravity Spell. Hunter MFA Thesis exhibition.
Hudson Street Gallery. New York. NYPL.
2020
Project Art Distribution (P.A.D.) Gallery. New York. NY.
2019
Eat Bloody Pussy: A Community Garden. Essex Flowers. New York. Curated by Fitch Ball.(Performance)
Age Before Beauty. Wallspace. Brooklyn.
No Rules. Mana Contemporary Glass Gallery. Jersey City. NJ.
2017
Hard Hunting. Hunter College. New York.
2016
Mobilier des Vallées de l’Himalaya. Galerie Jérôme Pauchant. Paris.
Polychrome. Driscoll Babcock Gallery. New York.
Between You and Me. Geoffrey Young Gallery. Great Barrington. Massachusetts.
2015
18 Percent. Castor Gallery. New York.
2014
Sha Boogie Bop. Anonymous Gallery. New York.
Cirrus. Dorfman Projects. New York.
Mandala: Locus of Thought. Tibet House. New York.
New/Idols. The Varsity. Brooklyn.
NY/NO. Galleri Geo. Bergen. Norway.
Post-Psychedelic Dreams. Grey East. East Hampton. NY.
Strata. Driscoll Babcock. Miami Project. Miami.
2013
Suddenness & Certainly. Robert Miller Gallery. New York. Curated by Robert Greene.
Pulse Art Fair. Driscoll Babcock. Miami.
Sweat Baby Sweat. Gildar Gallery. Beverly Hills. CA.
Magic Kingdom. Old School. Spring Break. New York.
The Example. Bleecker Street Art Club. New York.
About Space. The ArtBridge Drawing Room. New York.
Painted Perfect. Anonymous Gallery. Mexico City. Mexico.
2012
News from Chicago and New York. Fiebach Minninger. Cologne. DE. Organized by Henning Strassburger.
Portrait of a Generation. The Hole. New York.
Powerplay - A Radical Sculpture Park. Hayground. Bridgehampton. NY.
The Usual Suspects. Brooklyn Fireproof. Brooklyn.
Cosmic Architecture. Artists Wanted. Long Island City. New York.
The Final Frontier. The Atlantic Conference. Brooklyn.
Casas de empeño. Anonymous Gallery. Mexico City. Mexico.
Casas de empeño. Anonymous Gallery. New York.
2011
.... The Hole. New York. NY.
Between Two Friends. Varet Space. Brooklyn. NY.
NADA. The Hole. Miami. FL.
Control Alt Delete. HKJB. Brooklyn. NY. Catalog.
Outer Space. Exit Art. New York. NY.
2010
Recent Requisitions. Twenty Twenty Projects. Miami. FL.
Banzai!. Red Lotus Room. Brooklyn. NY.
In Dialogue. Anonymous Gallery. New York. NY. Catalog.
Quick While Still. Heist Gallery. New York. NY. Catalog.
Graphomania. Garbageman Astronaut Project Space. Portland. OR.
The Artist's Guide to the L.A. Galaxy. West LA College Art Gallery. Los Angeles. CA. Catalog.
2009
Hope Blossoms. Margulies Warehouse. Miami. FL.
Quick While Still. Motus Fort. Tokyo. Japan.
Matrilineage Symposium. Shaffer Art Building. Syracuse University. Syracuse. NY. Three Painters. Buia Gallery. New York. NY.
In Your Face. Buia Gallery. New York. NY.
2008
Timeless. Morris Museum. Morris. NJ.
Exit Art Benefit Auction. Exit Art. NY.
2007
Sunny. Clear. and Cool. Buia Gallery. NY.
Quotidian. Buia Gallery. NY.
Invisible Jet. Buia Gallery. NY.
2006
Breezer. Buia Gallery. New York. NY.
New Videos. Monkey Town. Brooklyn. NY.
Fred and Friends. Shepherd University. WV. Forest.
Cynthia Broan Gallery. New York. NY.
2005
NBC. Buia Gallery. New York. NY.
In the Buia. BUIA Gallery. New York. NY.
2004
Crystalis. The Peekskill Project. Peekskill. NY. (performance)
Nineteeneighty: Art Show. RARE. New York. NY.
New York to Portland. Disjecta. Portland. OR.
Dum Dum Grown-Up Art. Here Art. New York. NY.
Ides of March. ABC No Rio. New York. NY.
2003
[r]evolution-warface. Pamela Auchincloss Project Space. New York. NY. Waco Show. Ann Street Gallery. New York. NY.
We Do What We Like and We Like What We Do. Atlantic Conference. Brooklyn. NY. The Beginning is the End. Atlantic Conference. Brooklyn. NY.
2002
August Arts. Raw Space. New York. NY.
2001
Summer Group Show. Yale. Norfolk. CT .
Intercollegiate Group Show. Pratt Institute. New York. NY.
BIBLIOGRAPY
2020
Riley, Benjamin. In the Spotlight: A Conversation with Matt Jones. The Envoy. Interview.
2016
Nirenberg, Michael. Conversation With Painter Matt Jones. Huffington Post. Interview.
2015
Cox, Steven. Hunted Projects. Matt Jones. Interview.
Moustache Magazine. Matt Jones: The Gaming Painter. Interview.
Zimmer, Lori. Art Nerd. New York’s Top Event Picks for the Week.
2014
A Perimiter. Issue One. Summer 2014. Portfolio.
Savdie, Ilana. Tucked In / Art Crush. Interview.
Leading Culture Destinations. Matt Jones. Interview.
Aspen, Aurora. Purple Diary. A Visit to Matt Jones's Studio.
2013
Bowen, Effie. Interview Magazine."The Drawing Room is Off the Wall."
Ross, Cody. Contra. System Overload - Artist Matt Jones.
Martinez, Jamie. Art Fuse. Synthesis at Bottleneck Gallery.
2012
Thomas, BreakThru Radio. Art Uncovered: Matt Jones.
Harrison, Helen, Sag Harbor Express. Eye on Art - The Power of Sculpture. July 25.
Ulrich, Jorge, NY Arts Magazine, 30 Artists to Watch.
Sutphin, Eric. Beard and Brush. Noted: Seeing Stars - The Atlantic Conference Presents: The Final Frontier.
Fitzgerald, Ali. Daily Serving. Evil Dead 2 at Horton Gallery Berlin.
Calandra, Maria. Pencil in the Studio. Matt Jones.
Atkins, Devin Elise. Berlin Art Link. EVIL DEAD 2: Matt Jones and Kadar Brock at Horton Gallery.
Simkover, Rachel. Pigs (Berlin). Evil Dead 2 @ Horton Gallery.
Taylor, Leah. Flavor Pill. Meditating in Space.
2011
Bernstein, Julia. Purple Diary. Matt Jones at the Hole.
Finch, Charlie. Art Net. Drink Your Lola Cola.
Ross, Cody. i-D. Party in the city where the heat is on" & "Welcome to Miami Part II.
Russeth, Andrew. 16 Miles of String. "Control Alt Delete": A One-Night HKJB Show in Bushwick.
Sutphin, Eric. Beard and Brush. Review: Matt Jones Multiverse at Freight + Volume.
Sutphin, Eric. Artcritical. Punk Rock Nirvana: Matt Jones' Multiverse.
Locascio, Monica. Paper Magazine. Word Up! Last Call Gallery Hop!
Nalley, JD. Leaves of Glass. Multiverse: In the Plywood Forest of Matt Jones.
AWARDS AND GRANTS
2018
Kossak Painting Fellowship Travel Grant
2002
Vera T. Carroll Prize for Painting
2001
Ellen Battell Stoeckel Grant
VISITING ARTIST AND TALKS
2024
Artist Talk and Studio visits—NYU MFA. New York.
Conversation with Erin Shafkind. studio e. Seattle. WA.
2020
Artist Talk—Drawing During the Pandemic. Professor Mark Thomas Gibson. Tyler School of Art and Architecture. Philadelphia. PA.
Artist Talk—Drawing During the Pandemic. Professor Laura Frantz. Hunter College. New York.
Studio Visit—ISCP Young Patrons. New York.
2016
Artist Talk. Matt Jones—Abstraction. Professor Anna Kell. Bucknell University. Lewisburg. PA.
2014
Artist Talk and Studio Visits—Professor Mark Thomas Gibson. Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. New York.
2013
Matt Jones in conversation with Lucianne Walkowicz. Bleecker Street Arts Club. New York.