Matt Chinian wasn’t always a painter. But now, Hudson Valley Community College is opening a new art exhibit featuring nearly 1,000 pieces created by the Cambridge, New York-based artist.
For 25-some years after Chinian received a master’s degree in sculpture and painting from the University at Albany in 1988, he worked primarily as a carpenter.
“From the time I was about my early 30s until I was 50 I was pretty much focused on house repair – we bought some flipper houses, we owned some rental properties so I basically was relying on my carpentry skills as a mode of living,” Chinian said.
When he turned 50, Chinian realized he wanted to begin painting again.
“So I did,” Chinian said.
Since 2012, The Cambridge-based artist has been creating primarily oil-based paintings focused on everyday scenes people experience but may not pay much attention to.
Many of those scenes are located in the Capital Region and include parking lots, gas stations, and unassuming buildings.
All of Chinian’s paintings are plein air – meaning they are done on-site.
“In some ways its looking for beauty in the everyday, but I’m not really sure if I’m looking for what’s beautiful or not. I’m just looking to document what I see,” Chinian said.
The artist brings a painting kit consisting of brushes, pallet knives, and an easel almost everywhere he goes in case he stumbles upon a scene that strikes him.
Chinian says he usually finds his subjects while driving to complete an unrelated task.
“I find a place that looks interesting and I stop and I paint it. Nine times out of ten I’m working out of the back of the van,” Chinian said.
Each of Chinian’s paintings take about an hour to complete.
Chinian says the speed of his paintings speaks to an almost diary-like quality – a running dialogue of what today, tomorrow and the next day look like.
“And that is kind of what it is, its like a journal in a way. The paintings are very sketchy they don’t necessarily look finished and a lot of painters want to take it to the next point where it becomes finished. To me, I don’t see that as a compelling issue,” Chinian said.
He compares himself to a photographer, seeking to capture the everchanging patterns of light and shadows.
“But I don’t have a camera, I have paint,” Chinian said.
The exhibit will also stack a portion of the paintings in wooden crates where viewers can pick out some of Chinian’s works record-store style to create their own temporary groupings on picture rails installed in HVCC’s Teaching Gallery.
Chinian is interested to see which pieces people pick to display.
“In this group of 1,000 paintings, I can tell you the ones that I think are dogs and another person will come up and have a completely different feeling about it,” Chinian said.
He says he is also excited to see hundreds of his paintings hung up on the gallery’s walls.
“When its up you’re going to be able to see 100, 200 or 300 works in one shot, and you know, I’ve never seen that. So, it could be kind of fun,” Chinian said.
The exhibit, which opens September 25th, will run through October 25th. A reception with Chinian is scheduled opening day.
