Crash - From the 4 Train to Fenders

The art of John Crash Matos

Fairfield University is honored to pay tribute to one of graffiti's All Stars - the Bronx Bomber of the art world: CRASH. John "Crash" Matos is a world-famous artist whose career began surreptitiously in the mid 1970s at the age of 13 in the train yards of the South Bronx. His exhibit, The Art of John "Crash" Matos, runs from Jan. 28 through Feb. 28, 2010 at the Thomas J. Walsh Art Gallery at Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts.

Born in the Bronx, New York in 1961, Matos' earliest medium was spray-paint on subway cars and dilapidated buildings. The subway cars became a travelling art show throughout New York City's boroughs. As he got older, Matos transferred his art from the street to canvases, and today his work is exhibited at museums and galleries worldwide.

Along the way, CRASH painted backdrops and murals for the:

  • Twyla Tharp dance group (1981)
  • Casino de Ibizia (1992)
  • Wildlife Conservation Society at the Bronx Zoo (1994)
  • Esplanade in Singapore (2005).

 


Establishing a global visibility beyond his Puerto Rican heritage in the barrios of the South Bronx, his works are in the permanent collections of the:

  • Museum of Modern Art, New York
  • Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
  • Museum Boymans-van Beuninger, Rotterdam
  • Private galleries of Silvana and Enrico Coveri in Milan and Florence
  • Giovanni Agnelli, Milan
  • Dakis Jannous, Athens

Matos acknowledges that validation for his early work was in short supply, and he became accustomed to furtive glances over his shoulder while spray-painting subway cars to avoid encounters with the police. Matos' daughter, Anna, is a junior at Fairfield University majoring in Art History, and describes her dad as "still that same teen from the South Bronx sneaking into the train yards at night to have fun."

Multimedia Features

Video Link: Watch John Matos working with studentsJohn "Crash" Matos exhibit at the Walsh Gallery at Faifield University.
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Video Link: Watch John Matos working with studentsLocal high school students create mural for "Crash" exhibit.
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Video Link: Watch John Matos working with studentsCollection of work by John "Crash" Matos.
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