Anderson is not just an author, leadership coach, and business owner – He’s also an accomplished artist.
His work has been featured in exhibits, installations, residencies, and public art all over the country. He was also honored as “Best in Show” for a National Under 40 juried exhibit. Anderson’s work continues to grow in popularity. His art is intended to be big, bold, and fun. Often drawing inspiration from the challenges and strife of the world, he seeks to illuminate the emotional outcomes of conflict. Working primarily in an abstract environment, his goal is to evoke an emotional response in the viewer.
The cover art for There’s No Such Thing as Right and Wrong is a painting by the author called, The Flag.
The Flag is a rugged representation of the American Flag. Featuring various applications of spray paint on particle board, the lack of uniformity of the wood and natural chaos of the paint symbolize the challenges our nation has faced in the past, the blood spilled in its defense of freedom, and the racial and political turmoil we face today.
The piece is imbued with the conflicting emotions of hope and despair, and was created with the belief that America is better and stronger when we show love, compassion, and respect for one another, and when we come together as One People in spite of our differences.
Music is Art - Especially in Michigan was featured in ArtPrize in 2021, and has been displayed in the Michigan Institute for Contemporary Art since December of 2021. Below is the official description provided during ArtPrize:
Music is Art is a series of paintings that each visually represent the notes played in a particular song. For ArtPrize 2021, the featured artwork from this series honors the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and their song, “Especially in Michigan.”
This art series is inspired by the perceptual phenomenon, synesthesia, which is experienced when an individual “sees” sound, “tastes” colors, or otherwise has an overlapping sensory experience. The Michigan-based artist, Matthew D. Anderson, who himself experiences synesthesia by having the involuntary experience of being able to “smell” things he sees, was inspired to create a holistic sensory experience for the viewer of this artwork, and has done so in a variety of ways.
First, the song was selected for its representation of Michigan and Grand Rapids, the hometown of the band’s lead singer, Anthony Kiedis. Next, colors were associated with each note played in the song. The colors were selected to represent regional food items from around the state of Michigan: Deep Bright Blue to represent Lake Michigan Water; Tan to represent Michigan Winter Wheat; Fudge Brown for Mackinac Island Fudge; Dark Red for Traverse City Cherries; Cream to represent Detroit’s Stroh’s Vanilla Ice Cream; Cinnamon to represent the Upper Peninsula’s Cinnamon Trenary Toast; and Coal to represent a smoky Campfire Marshmallow.
The art of mathematics is represented and plays a critical role in ensuring each note is appropriately sized to fit within and fill the canvas. Finally, a special beer pairing, Beer is Art, a chocolate-cherry stout, was developed in collaboration with Atwater Brewery to match the colors represented by the foods unique to Michigan. By choosing to view this piece while enjoying the accompanying beer, you can essentially see, hear, smell, and taste the various elements of this painting and song. And while you shouldn’t touch it, that sense is represented through the use of oil paint, which creates a textured finish to this work of art.
Politics was recognized in 2020 as Best in Show in the Rowayton Art Center’s Focus Under Forty All Media Juried Exhibition in Connecticut. The statement from the juror, Terri C. Smith includes, “I prioritized work that felt experimental and showed a unique approach to imagery, technique, or subject. The artists I chose have combined a sense of play and studio practices. In other words, they appear to be seriously inquisitive about what their voice as an artist should communication while also regularly returning to the act of making in order to develop their technical skills.”
The description of the piece follows:
Many of our politicians have shifted towards self-service and preservation of reelection, often demonstrating that they are a class unto themselves as opposed to representatives of the people. This piece, Politics, represents that reality, with the average person swirling around living life, while the establishment surrounds itself with a nearly impenetrable barrier to protect the perfect institution. Blood is shed on their behalf, while the people of all colors slowly stand up, and eventually a single Black Sheep rises to disrupt the system.
Nature’s Water Filter
was created to demonstrate the effect nature can have on cleaning and purifying our water resources. It is inspired by the goal of cleaning the storm water entering the Red Cedar River in Lansing, MI.
The piece is painted entirely with spray paint on a wooden board. The juxtaposition of toxic and natural is a direct reflection of the clean water project’s efforts of to naturally remove toxins from local stormwater. Spray paint, typically associated with graffiti art, was intentionally used as a playful choice of medium, for a public mural art campaign, for which this painting was selected. This piece also served in 2019 as the featured promotional art for an annual art auction fundraiser for Art in the Wild.
Red / Blue
Spray Paint / Wood
Toxic / Natural
Anger / Depression
Social Distancing / Feeling Isolated
Stay Home / Zoom
No School / Distance Learning
Republicans / Democrats
Don’t Waste Masks / Masks for All
Flatten the Curve / Protest
Work from Home / Record Unemployment
Stimulate the Economy / Generational Debt
Small Business / Amazon
Public Safety / Civil Liberties
Vaccines / Second Wave
Deaths by Illness / Deaths of Despair
COVID-19 has created limitless confusion, anxiety, and contention.
Red / Blue, created during quarantine, is designed to create a similar sense of unease and frustration over the perception of being “too simple” or “incomplete,” much as the governmental and media messages about the virus have elicited these emotions. The aim of this piece is to physically represent these conflicting reactions, and manifest in the viewer the uncomfortable feelings of the pandemic.
This piece was featured in the following juried exhibits:
Art in the Time of Quarantine, The Art Center of Highland Park, IL (2020)
a light in the darkness, Las Laguna Art Gallery, CA (2020)
Pandemic Transformations, Sebastopol Center for the Arts, CA (2020)
Semicolon, represents the symbol used by those who have contemplated and overcome suicidal ideation. On the sides of the piece are words of support, like “Your Story Isn’t Over,” the phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and the description, “Semicolon: When an author could end a thought and chooses not to.” I have the symbol tattooed on the inside of my left wrist as a reminder to myself of what I’ve overcome, and in solidarity with those who are still struggling. My hope with wearing the tattoo, and in creating the art, is that it will be a symbol of hope at the right moment in time for a person who feels hopeless.
This piece, along with another iteration of The Flag, are both proudly used as functional art for the game of Throw Bowling at High Caliber Karting & Entertainment in Lansing, MI.
If you or someone you know are struggling with suicidal ideation, know that what you’re feeling is not abnormal, and there are people who are committed to helping you.
Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline:
800-273-8255
Our Executive Branch officials are meant to be the representatives of the people. They are meant to be visionaries for a better future. They are meant to be aspirational leaders. They aren’t.
The reality is, the Federal and State Executive Branches have grown to have too much power. They bully the Legislatures that represent the people in order to serve their party’s demands, or ignore them altogether and sign executive orders. Republicans and Democrats are all guilty of this, and the losers are the people they are charged with serving and representing – Us.
Power to the People – W: Depower the Executive Branch, showcases this reality by demonstrating the people, who truly want to live in harmony as friends and neighbors, as the purple outsiders; the elected officials on the Left and Right represented by their respective political colors; and the clash that is impending represented by the starburst of white.
It’s time to return Power to the People and depower the Executive Branch.
The Art is Available for Purchase!
Fill out the form below to place your order of “The Flag,” or other works you like. Matthew will reply back to discuss options for original or reproductions of the artwork!