Matthew Best

In 2009 I was contacted by the Crystal City Business Improvement District. They were interested in using images from a recent solo show I had just had at the Arlington Arts Center (https://www.arlingtonartscenter.org/) as part of their Art Walls  project (http://crystalcity.org/artful/art-walls). The idea of the program is to introduce art into areas of the city, adding color and interesting for Crystal City’s guests, residents, and employees.

My solo show became the public art installation, Supernature. It was a show of small paintings, the largest of which was 18 by 18 inches, the majority of them 10 by 10 inches. Imagine my shock when I saw my 10 by 10 inch paintings (like the ones above) blown up to 10 by 10 feet. When I first saw them I stopped my car in the middle of the road stunned, not a smart thing to do in Arlington.

Aside from shear scale, the explosion of color on an otherwise dull concrete underpass was needless to say, really exciting. It is still located 12th Street South in Crystal City.

Just about a month ago I was again contacted by the Crystal City BID to see if I would allow portions of my work to be used in signage for the new Arts Underground (http://crystalcity.org/artful/art-underground). This new space is a venue for galleries, studios, interactive exhibits and activities, performance and classroom spaces. I am excited to be part of it, the results are below.