Matthew Coll is an Irish artist based in Dublin. They recently graduated from NCAD’s Fine Art Painting BA in 2022 and work predominantly in Painting, Sculpture and Installation.
Their practice explores the experience of "Being" and Memory, with recent work focusing on the subject matter of crowds. Utilising AI-image generation tools, found imagery and photography throughout their daily life as a starting point for source magery. They paint actual and imagined gatherings, ranging from joyous raves to monotonous commutes and turbulent riots. They aim to depict a reality slipping away, where Real and Unreal become indistinguishable. Distorting the image's origin through the painting process, often dragging and scraping paint across the surface and occasionally deconstructing structural components, pursuing a simultaneous harmony and conflict between points of representation and abstraction.
Their work is part of several collections, including the OPW, St. Vincent’s University Hospital and Teeling Whiskey Distillery. They were awarded NCAD’s Clancy Quay Studio Graduate Residency Award 2023 / 2024, The Arts Council’s 2023 Agility Award & Fingal County Council's 2023 Artists' Support Scheme Bursary.