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Matty Monahan
Mo in 2018
Born
Boston, Massachusetts
NationalityAmerican
Known forstreet art, contemporary art, collaborations
Movementcontemporary art, street art
Websitethemostfamousartist.com

Matty Monahan (known professionally as Matty Mo[1]) is a Los Angeles-based contemporary artist and marketing entrepreneur best known for creating the conceptual art group, "The Most Famous Artist." Through this platform, Monahan makes social media-themed installations, performance art and exhibitions to challenge viewers to examine how technology and the Internet impact society.[2] In 2017, Forbes published a feature on Monahan, promoting his innovative outlook on technology.[2] That same year, ABC News reported on his large-scale public installation in Los Angeles where he painted three residential homes bright pink as a commentary on class, community and digital legacy.[3][4] Monahan's "#selfiewall" in the Venice Beach neighborhood in Los Angeles was dubbed by Los Angeles Magazine as being "The Most Instagramable Wall in L.A." and ABC's Nightline said his art is an "instagramer's dream."[5][6][7]

Early History

Before creating the group, "The Most Famous Artist," Monahan attended Stanford University and had a career in advertising technology.[8] In 2012, Monahan relocated to Los Angeles and became the CEO of AlphaBoost, a social advertising startup company.[9] The following year, he was vacationing in India with Jesse Thomas, founder of a social media strategy firm, when Thomas posted photos and video of Monahan drunk and nude to his personal and company social media accounts.[10][11] These events would ultimately jeopardize Alphaboost acquisition talks. [12][13]

"The Most Famous Artist"

Monahan launched his platform, "The Most Famous Artist," in 2013 when he began taking preexisting paintings and adding something to them or painting over their surface.[14] This concept of appropriation is a longstanding one in art history and was used by iconic artists such as Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol.[15] Mohanan, however, adds an awareness of digital promotion and social media to this technique that modernizes its impact.[16][17]

"100 Thousand Dollars," 2016

In 2016, Mohanan created ten works, each one resembling a stack of one thousand $100 bills; however, only the bills on the top and bottom of the stacks were visible making their literal monetary value a mystery.[16] The stacks were priced at $5,000 each and the first sold within twenty minutes of being posted on Instagram.[18] While buyers could look through the stacks of cash to count their actual monetary value, Mohanan added a seal to each piece that keeps all the bills together and said it will become an illegitimate art object should that seal be broken.[19]

"The Pink House" (2017)

In 2017, "The Most Famous Artist" group painted three houses in a Los Angeles residential neighborhood bright pink that were scheduled for demolition and to be replaced by a high-end apartment building.[20] The installation was embraced on social media but also seen as an important lens on gentrification and community displacement.[21][22][23][24]

"Artificial Intelligence: THE END OF ART AS WE KNOW IT", 2017

In 2017, the group mounted a solo exhibition at The McLoughlin Gallery in San Francisco where they partnered with anonymous hackers to build an artificial intelligence capable of analyzing and reproducing art styles of iconic artists, such as Chuck Close.[2] The first group of images is a series of portraits of people, including: factory workers, art dealers, pilots, artists and taxi drivers, whose jobs could one day by eliminated by artificial intelligence.[25] This exhibition serves as starting point for a discussion about the challenges facing humanity in light of big data, AI and robots.[26] In 2019, one of the artworks from this exhibition, an AI-created portrait of Mark Zuckerberg, was featured on the cover of Rotman Management Magazine.[27]

"The Private Jet Experience," 2018

Simulating the experience of flying on a luxury private jet, the group built an interactive installation that, when photographed from a particular angle, makes participants appear to be on a luxury Gulfstream G3. The purpose of the experience is entirely for social media optics, an approach Forbes called "brilliantly outrageous."[28] The work was installed in the Fred Segal store in Los Angeles and is set to travel around the country, including Miami Beach during Art Basel in 2018.[29]

"The Fyre Experience," 2019

As homage to the Fyre Festival in 2017, The Most Famous Artist built a selfie-centric installation satirizing the failed music event.[30] The installation recreated infamous details from Fyre Festival as possible: cardboard cutouts of celebrities who endorsed the festival, cheese sandwiches in polystyrene containers, stacks of fake money, a simulated hot tub full of Evian bottles and a sandy beach with a Bahamas background.[31][32]

Also in 2019, Hulu and Netflix each released documentaries on the failure, Fyre Fraud and Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, which partially inspired this project.[33][34]

"Matty Marries Miley," 2019

Nearing the one-year anniversary of Miley Cyrus's short lived marriage to Liam Hemsworth, Monahan proposed to Cyrus on social media--a stunt to amplify his credibility as a performance artist.[35][36] Cyrus publicly responded to the post, saying “it probably won’t last long, but always down to try. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”[37]

"The Monolith," 2020

In 2016, a metal pillar monolith, the Utah Monolith, was placed in San Juan County, Utah. Since then, similar mysterious and unauthorized pillars have appeared in California, Nevada, the United Kingdom, Romania and the Netherlands.[38] As the most famous artist claimed he was behind the monoliths, shortly after a video surfaced of The Who actually made the monoliths. [39][40]

Public Speaking

In 2016, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art's Artinfusion Insight program hosted Monahan to speak about his innovative use of social media in his art and, in 2017, he delivered lectures at Sotheby's Institute of Art and at the Tech Open Air conference in Berlin.[41][42][43]

ABC's Nightline, 2019

ABC News produced the video, "Meet Matty Mo, 'The Most Famous Artist' you've never heard of," the most comprehensive account of Monahan's platform and art to date.[7] In the interview, Monahan discusses the integral role the internet plays in his installations but also the ways in which he is inspired by, and further extends, concepts derived from art history.[44] Specifically, Monahan explores art monetization in a manner similar to Kaws, participatory installations similar to Yayoi Kusama, and headlines and stunts to broaden his message similar to Banksy's approach.[7]

References

  1. ^ Kraus, Rachel. "Stunt artists who claim they're behind the alien monoliths sell new ones for $45,000". Mashable. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Carter, Felicity. "The Most Famous Artist: Art Meets AI". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-12-11.
  3. ^ about, anabel munoz, bio (2017-06-14). "Vacant homes become pink-hued art in Mid-City". ABC7 Los Angeles. Retrieved 2018-01-15.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ "Los Angeles Artist Sparks Controversy for Painting Several Houses Pepto-Bismol Pink". www.odditycentral.com. 2017-06-16. Retrieved 2018-01-15.
  5. ^ "Exclusive: Gucci Collaborates With Artists on an Instagram Initiative". Vogue. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
  6. ^ "Matty Monahan, AKA The Most Famous Artist, Paints Uber-Popular Selfie Backdrops All Over L.A. - Los Angeles Magazine". Los Angeles Magazine. 2016-02-01. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
  7. ^ a b c "Nightline | Meet Matty Mo, 'The Most Famous Artist' you've never heard of". ABC. Retrieved 2019-12-17.
  8. ^ "Matty Mo, AKA The Most Famous Artist, Paints Uber-Popular Selfie Backdrops All Over L.A. - Los Angeles Magazine". Los Angeles Magazine. 2016-02-01. Retrieved 2017-12-11.
  9. ^ "Why Science's Matt Monahan, after startups in New York and SF, is excited about LA". Built In Los Angeles. Retrieved 2019-12-17.
  10. ^ Biddle, Sam. "Tech Bros' Google-Sponsored Trip to India Turns Into Naked Beach Romp [UPDATE]". Gawker. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
  11. ^ "Drunk, Naked AlphaBoost Founder Matt Monahan Is Currently Trying to Sell His Company". Observer. 2013-02-18. Retrieved 2019-12-17.
  12. ^ "Video of drunk, dong-waving CEO sends two startups on a downward spiral | The Daily Dot". The Daily Dot. 2013-05-06. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
  13. ^ "Nudity, Drunken Stupidity And A Jerk-Of-A 'Friend' May Cost A Startup Founder His Acquisition". Business Insider. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
  14. ^ "Who is The Most Famous Artist ? Contributing to a Discussion on Meaning in Art". Widewalls. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
  15. ^ "Matty Mo". Widewalls. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
  16. ^ a b "Matty Mo, AKA The Most Famous Artist, Paints Uber-Popular Selfie Backdrops All Over L.A. - Los Angeles Magazine". Los Angeles Magazine. 2016-02-01. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
  17. ^ Tiffany, Kaitlyn (2018-09-26). "What 10 influencers and artists have to say about Instagram's co-founders quitting". Vox. Retrieved 2019-02-16.
  18. ^ "This Artist Sells Money as Art - 100, 000 for 5, 000 Dollars ?". Widewalls. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
  19. ^ "Meet the man selling bundles of cash on Instagram and calling it art". Digital Trends. 2016-04-18. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
  20. ^ Bromwich, Jonah Engel (2017-06-16). "California Today: Batman, a True Angeleno". The New York Times. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
  21. ^ "People Are Going Wild for Some Controversial Hot Pink Houses". Time. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
  22. ^ Weiner, Zoë. "These Houses Were Painted ENTIRELY Pink and They're Begging You to Instagram Them". Teen Vogue. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
  23. ^ "Pink Houses For Instagram in LA". ELLE. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
  24. ^ "Do Not Instagram These Pink Houses, They Are A PR Stunt To Sell Rosé". LAist. Archived from the original on 2017-12-26. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
  25. ^ Lekach, Sasha. "Artist ironically uses AI to make portraits of people with jobs likely displaced by AI". Mashable. Retrieved 2017-12-11.
  26. ^ Artist, The Most Famous (2017-06-26). "Artificial Intelligence: THE END OF ART AS WE KNOW IT". Medium. Retrieved 2017-12-11.
  27. ^ "The Disruptive Issue II (Winter 2019) - Rotman School of Management". www.rotman.utoronto.ca. Retrieved 2019-12-17.
  28. ^ Carter, Felicity. "The Private Jet Experience By The Most Famous Artist And SelfieCircus". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-02-16.
  29. ^ "Do it for the 'gram: Don't miss these at Art Basel installations". miamiherald. Retrieved 2019-02-16.
  30. ^ Hosie, Rachel. "An artist has created an installation called 'The Fyre Experience' which allows people to take pictures pretending they're at the failed festival". INSIDER. Retrieved 2019-02-16.
  31. ^ Kupfer, Lindsey (2019-01-31). "A Fyre pop-up mocks real festival with an abrupt cancellation". Page Six. Retrieved 2019-02-16.
  32. ^ "You can pretend to be at Fyre Festival with 'ultra luxurious' pop-up". Metro. 2019-01-31. Retrieved 2019-02-16.
  33. ^ "No smoke without Fyre: A GAS mock experience has been made". SHEmazing!. Retrieved 2019-02-16.
  34. ^ "You Can Eat A Cheese Sandwich In A Box At This Fyre Festival "Experience" Pop-Up". NYLON. 2019-02-01. Retrieved 2019-02-16.
  35. ^ "Miley Cyrus Has a Totally Realistic Response to This Marriage Proposal". E! Online. 2019-12-19. Retrieved 2019-12-19.
  36. ^ "Miley Cyrus Makes Fun Of Short Marriage to Liam Hemsworth". RadarOnline. 2019-12-19. Retrieved 2019-12-19.
  37. ^ Reda, Natasha. "Miley Cyrus Pokes Fun at Short Marriage to Liam Hemsworth". PopCrush. Retrieved 2019-12-19.
  38. ^ Bahr, Sarah (2020-12-07). "California Men Declare Themselves Makers of Pine Mountain Monolith". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  39. ^ Kraus, Rachel. "Stunt artists who claim they're behind the alien monoliths sell new ones for $45,000". Mashable. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  40. ^ Froelich, Paula (2020-12-05). "Artists group takes credit for mysterious Utah monolith". New York Post. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  41. ^ "Artinfusion Insight » Matty Mo "The Most Famous Artist" | Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art". crystalbridges.org. Retrieved 2017-12-12.
  42. ^ "Tech Open Air Conference & Speakers". Tech Open Air. Retrieved 2017-12-11.
  43. ^ "The Most Famous Artist at Sotheby's Institute of Art". www.amirapress.com. Retrieved 2017-12-11.
  44. ^ "Nightline | Meet Matty Mo, 'The Most Famous Artist' you've never heard of". ABC. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
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