BIOGRAPHY

Hailing from New Zealand where he obtained his BMA Media Arts, Sam Mathers has travelled and lived all over the world working as an artist. He held his first solo exhibition in Raglan in 2011 where he caught the eye of Saatchi and Saatchi Art Director, Antonio Navas, who commissioned him to paint a mural for the agency’s foyer. Since then Sam has exhibited in numerous group art shows worldwide, his art now highly sought after by private collectors and commissioned by both commercial and private clientele.

A self-proclaimed “hoarder of images, objects, consumer brands, everyday objects and creatures that inhabit his world”, through his work, Mathers amalgamates these items in a symbiosis of connectedness. His work is provocative and engaging in that the viewer too, relates to much of these identifiable elements of Sam’s world. In the graphical depictions of the commercial world intertwined with the organic integrity of the rural environment that he often finds himself in, a sense of familiarity is felt when in the presence of Mathers’ work.

Mathers credits Picasso, Cy Twombly, Warhol, Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning as influencing his work. Compositionally his paintings are two-dimensional, however on closer inspection, several layers begin to reveal themselves. Building of paint, scratching back, drawing, swathes of wet paint and intricate details, combine to beguiling effect.

Among his achievements, Mathers was a finalist in the Molly Morpeth Canaday Awards and was awarded a Johnson Scholarship for Art. He was also commissioned for the Benetton World Art Kiwi Consciousness collection in Treviso, Italy.

ARTIST STATEMENT

My works are a visual diary of my travels in New Zealand and around the world, and the way I see and experience these places. They document the iconic and instantly recognizable as well as the odd and interesting. I am fascinated by the back-story, the cultural history, behind well-known images, along with scientific rules and mechanics of how various things work.

I explore these ideas within a graphic sensibility and play with scale, depth, text, current and old media, languages, currencies and slang to create multi-layers of meaning. This avails to each viewer an opportunity to find and connect with something different. I deliberately create scratches, paint drips and weather-beaten marks to add character and a natural look, while using a colour palette that resonates with me in that particular moment.

EDUCATION

2005  BMA, Media Arts, Hamilton, NZ

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2019 Duncan & Ebbett Volvo showroom, Hamilton, NZ
2015 That’s Gold, Soul Gallery, Hamilton NZ
2015 A Few Stray Bottle Caps, The Third Eye – Tuatara Temple Of Taste, Wellington NZ
2014  All They Know How To Say Is Moooooo, Soul Gallery, Hamilton NZ
2014  Sam Mathers, David Lloyd Gallery, Hamilton NZ
2013  Rural & Sea Views, Soul Gallery, Hamilton NZ
2012  Been & Gone, Mobile Art Gallery, Auckland NZ
2011  Where Have You Been? Blacksand, Raglan NZ

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2017 The Other Art Fair, Sydney, Australia
2016 Colours Art Launch, Sapphire Room, Ponsonby, Auckland NZ
2016 Kings College, Auckland NZ
2016 VEFA, Vauxhall School, Auckland NZ
2015 MAC Creative Directions Art Fair, Mairangi Arts Centre, Auckland NZ
2015 ROPS Art Auction, Royal Oak, Auckland NZ
2015 Kohia Exhibition, Kohia Terrace School Exhibition, Auckland NZ
2014 Kohia Exhibition, Kohia Terrace School Exhibition, Auckland NZ
2014 Baradene Art Show, Baradene Auditorium, Auckland NZ
2014 ROPS Art Auction, Royal Oak, Auckland NZ
2014 VEFA, Vauxhall School, Auckland NZ
2013 Art Fusions, Carmel College, Auckland NZ
2013 ROPS Art Auction, Royal Oak, Auckland NZ
2013 NZ ART Show, ASB Bank Arena, Wellington NZ
2013 NZ ART Show Launch, Museum Art Hotel, Wellington NZ
2013  Baradene Art show, Baradene Auditorium, Auckland NZ
2012  200 x 200mm, Parnell Gallery, Auckland NZ
2012  Southwell Creative Ties, Southwell School, Hamilton NZ
2012 ROPS Art Auction, Royal Oak, Auckland NZ
2011 Chace Charity Art Auction, Mt Maunganui NZ
2011  Nautical, Draw Inc Gallery, Hamilton, NZ
2006  Southwell Invitational Exhibition, Hamilton, NZ
2005  Southwell Invitational Exhibition, Hamilton, NZ
2004  Southwell Invitational Exhibition, Hamilton, NZ

SELECTED COMMISSIONS

2016 MAGO MUNDI Benetton World Art, Kiwi Consciousness collection, Treviso, Italy
2012 Mural, New School of Architecture and Design (NSAD), San Diego CA
2011 Mural, Sattchi & Sattchi, Auckland NZ
2011 Mural, Media Design School, Auckland NZ

ACHIEVEMENTS

2019 Molly Morpeth Canaday Award Finalist
2002 Johnson Scholarship for Art, Hamilton, NZ