John "Crash" Matos

bio

"In 1975, at the age of 14, I started to paint on trains."

John "CRASH" Matos was born in the Bronx in New York in 1961, where he still lives and works today.

One of the oldschool graffiti pioneer from New York. Started painting his name on the subway trains with Daze and Kel 139 during the mid 70's. His career in gallery starts in1981 at Gallery Real Art Ways and Fashion Moda in 82.
His works are in the most prestigious collections of art : the M.o.m.a. of New York, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Groninger Museum, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

"When I was a child, the only thing that really interested me was the trains. Their movements, their sounds, their smells occupied my thoughts from early morning to dusk. I was used to take alone the subway to visit my mother who was working at Grand Central Station on 42nd Street. When I understood for the first time what was such scriptures in 1971, I was 10 years old. These paintings excited my curiosity, their colors attracted me, I mostly wondered how they could arrived so far. In 1975, at the age of 14, I started to paint on trains, stopping just 7 years later for fully devote myself to painting on canvas. "

© Speerstra Gallery 2010