Matt Trujillo’s Solid Style

Texas-via-New Mexico artist Matt Trujillo’s colorful portraits call back to the motifs and sharp shapes of pop art of the 60s. Trujilo’s distinct style spans many mediums: canvases, wheat pastes, and stencils in the street, identifiable by his use of color blocking and solid crisp colors. 

To describe his work, Trujillo used the words “graphic portraits with a little bit of street aesthetic as far as just kind of the loose feel on the stencil that type of stuff that I use. I like to capture emotion.” 

Since leaving his hometown of Las Cruces, NM, to pursue a business venture, Trujillo made a name for himself in the Austin art scene. Trujillo has established himself with his colorful and eye-catching murals, along with his recent exploration into wheat pastes commenting on the political climate in Texas. Trujillo’s reach has even extended all the into New York City through a project for Austin-based West Chelsea Contemporary gallery.

Trujillo has established himself with his colorful and eye-catching murals, along with his recent exploration into wheat pastes commenting on the political climate in Texas.

Leaving Las Cruces to build a start-up clothing brand with a close friend created many twists and turns for Trujillo. That close friend ended up becoming Trujillo’s brother-in-law and starting a family, and similarly, Trujillo found himself down a different path in this new environment a few states over. Arriving in Austin, Trujillo initially got involved in the Texas art scene through a craigslist ad. Trujillo responded to the listing requesting artists to submit artworks for a show, and his art quickly took off in the new scene, “I never knew my art would mean anything to anybody else other than myself,” Trujillo said. 

“I’d always created art for myself, and it wasn’t until I moved to Austin about seven years ago 2016 when I actually showcased my work for the first time and put it out in the public and then from there it just kind of steamrolled,” said Trujillo about his transition to Texas. 

As the case for many Austin based artists, the collection of free walls built from a failed condo development Hope Outdoor Gallery served as a launching pad for Trujillo’s art. Trujillo also became involved in other local art institutions in Austin, the warehouse gallery Cherry Cola Dog. Austin proved to be a good place to establish his name, as shortly after, Trujillo was included in the West Chelsea Contemporary Gallery’s represented artist roster.

“it really helped out a lot at that time for me, gave me an opportunity to showcase work and they’ve even sent me out to New York to do prints” Trujillo said about the West Chelsea Contemporary gallery.

Recently Matt Trujillo has been going back to the streets as a canvas for his art, wheat pasting portraits mocking Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who recently made national news cycles for deploying Texas National Guard to prevent federal agents from carrying out court orders to remove razor wire at Eagle Pass as a part of Abbott’s anti-immigration Operation Lone Star. “I like Greg Abbott as a clown,” said Trujillo. In a video posted by Trujillo, he portrays the clown portrait with a new-sclip in the background, outlining Abbott’s absurd policies such as allowing any texan above the age of 21 to carry a handgun without a license, a law restricting educators capacity to discuss race, restrictive voting laws minimizing mail-in votes, and bounties on anyone who aids or abets abortions.

“I’d always created art for myself, and it wasn’t until I moved to Austin about seven years ago 2016 when I actually showcased my work for the first time and put it out in the public and then from there it just kind of steamrolled,”

Trujillo sees the messages of his works in the streets differently from how he approaches gallery work. “It’s more when I’m doing something on the street it’s more for other people, so I think more about what kind of message am I trying to put out there,” he said, “as opposed to gallery work is more personal. It’s me and my studio by myself, I’m really not thinking about who’s looking at it.” 

The political messages of Trujillo’s recent wheat pastes are a departure from his modus operandi, “I was really against doing anything politics or any kind of celebrity type of work for the longest time” Trujillo said, “it wasn’t until during Covid when Donald Trump was president where kind of really certain things you can’t ignore.”

Trujillo’s Greg Abbott wheat pastes are an extension of his clown series, which has featured the likes of Donald Trump and Mark Zuckerburg. “It’s like he [Trump] is a clown, it’s ridiculous. The more you pay attention to him the more you realize how ridiculous it is.” Trujillo said. 

“It’s more when I’m doing something on the street it’s more for other people, so I think more about what kind of message am I trying to put out there,”

Outside of the political inspirations found in some of Trujillo’s work, Trujillo also finds inspiration in many other places, “I like to rabbit hole YouTube and watch music videos and artist interviews. I’m also inspired by fashion, architecture, and all types of music. That and being surrounded by other dedicated artists and peers inspire me.”  

One thing that unites Trujillo’s art, political or not, is his use of high contrast colors, with primary colors at the forefront. “I love playing with those colors, it kind of brings me back to childhood too, you know, just blues and reds and yellows. But really, I like to explore, I kind of go into little pockets sometimes or find a color scheme that I really  apply it to two or three pieces that and then keep changing it up,” said Trujillo.

“It’s like he [Trump] is a clown, it’s ridiculous. The more you pay attention to him the more you realize how ridiculous it is.”

Trujillo’s persistence to creating something beaches into other aspects of his life, outside of painting. “Every day is so different. You know, my main priority is to create everyday whether it’s a painting or I said a shoot or maybe updating something or creating some kind of paper or magazine type stuff. You know, just collaging. I spend time with my dog,” said Trujillo, “there are so many artists in this world and to be where I’m at and to even have the opportunities that I’ve had it’s just been amazing. So it’s just like I can’t wait to keep growing and keep evolving.”

 

Written by Gus Crothers